Sargassum plan abandoned by UPM back on table
(CNS): The minority UPM administration appears to have abandoned the development of a plan to deal with the sargassum influx after Kathy Ebanks-Wilks, the sustainability minister, resigned from government in October 2024. However, Ebanks-Wilks, who is back at the helm of the environment and sustainability, has said that this is now a priority. The draft plan will be reviewed, updated and submitted to Cabinet in the next few weeks.
After her resignation last year, the sustainability portfolio was headed by Dwayne Seymour until the April 2025 elections. During those six months, the plan stalled for reasons that he has not revealed. Nevertheless, from the opposition benches, Seymour asked Ebanks-Wilks on Friday if there was a sargassum plan in place to tackle the reemergence of the seaweed scourge, given his district of Bodden Town appears to be one of the worst affected.
Ebanks-Wilks told the House that once the Sargassum Response Plan was approved, the necessary equipment and supplies could be procured to deal with the recurring problem currently washing up on beaches all three Cayman Islands, especially along the south shores and in the canals, though Seven Mile Beach remains sargassum-free for now.
Ebanks-Wilks said that booms and other measures were under consideration, but the solution has not yet been determined.
Over the last week, local social media platforms have been awash with video footage and pictures of the sargassum coming ashore. It is a problem that has particularly impacted Florida and the Caribbean and is increasing for reasons that are still being debated. However, climate change and warming seas are thought to be the main factors, and scientists have already warned that 2025 could be a record-breaking year for the seaweed blooms in our region.
While large surges of the seaweed can be unsightly and smelly, they can also help keep beaches stable and healthy. The Department of Environment is battling to educate beachfront owners about removing large amounts of sand while they try to remove the sargassum.
“During decomposition, there will inevitably be a smell and insects around,” the DoE states on its website. However, this is often short-lived. “The experience in locations that have left the sargassum on the beach is that it will eventually get washed away or buried in the next storm, with rain easing the smell. Leaving sargassum on the beach has proven to be the simplest and lowest cost approach, also helping to nourish the beach and stabilise the shoreline.”
It can also be used as mulch or compost after the rain washes out the salt, or it can be redistributed in areas affected by beach erosion. But care is needed in how this is done to avoid impacting sea turtle nesting areas and bird nesting habitat.
The DoE says it is always preferable to leave sargassum where it is, if possible. Where this is not possible or feasible, then raking the area by hand is preferable. Clearing beaches by mechanical means requires permission from the DoE, given the huge risk to turtles as the peak nesting season begins.
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Category: Marine Environment, Policy, Politics, Science & Nature
Rich folk beach homes going down in value? LOL
Might find that funny, but it kills a lot of marine life. It blocks out the sun and any slow moving bottom dwelling species die. Then it starts to rot and give off gasses which kill the fish. Still laughing?
Just be honest and say you can’t hang out on your balcony overlooking the ocean and you’re upset you can’t have your fake friends over now.
I thought the experts at Dept of Environment had a solution. What happened?
*”experts”
Don’t waste time and money on a futile effort.
There is no solution. Its nature. Whatever you do it’ll be back in the morning until it is ready to stop itself
cig…the people who let smb erode away and did absolutely nothing…
dump seems well managed too, and traffic, and development
Ha!
This is stupid. Sawgrassum movement has been around for thousands of years. CIG could not do a thing to stop it; it’s part of nature and will not kill ya.
What will kill ya is the dump issue! And in the future CIG will be paying for thousands of cancer patients caused by toxic waste at the dump.
It’s not natural now, though. It’s growing out of control caused by agricultural run-off from the Amazon basin.
Out of date theory.
It’s coming from Africa, perhaps rivers, not South America.
When did they start measuring it, can’t be more than 50yrs worth of data, therefore we know nothing?
just like it’s getting hotter but the ice caps have grown 27%….
Watch for rapid action now that the wealthy are complaining.
yes..money makes the world go around…go back to your tree house.
Poor folks in Windsor Park get flooded out every year and no one cares.
Sick society.
We could collect it and instead hauling it to the already gargantuan dump, wash it, pulvarise it, package it and sell it. Seaweed meal costs quite a bit everywhere. https://www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/seaweed-products
I once had the sargassum analysed by an analytical lab in Florida. The seaweed had all the requirements of plants, and all in the correct proportion. Even the trace elements, Molybedenum, Boron, etc., all in the right amounts.
Yes, it would take a lot of organisation to make this work. We could do it.
The decomposition of land-based sargassum releases hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas and ammonia. H2S is a broad-spectrum poison that smells of rotten eggs. Symptoms include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, vertigo, headache, and skin rashes. We shouldn’t want this anywhere near our shores, gardens, or food supply. Humans and pets should keep away from it if they can.
Really? They can’t even provide half decent public transport.
basic economics….cost of doing that here in cayman will be prohibitive.
could maybe work in mexico
amazing. After all these years and no solution. May be there are no solutions. too bad. we loved the Cayman Islands
Pierre Lussier @ 3:55pm – “After all these years”? This phenomenon hasn’t existed that many years in terms of: 1. Recognizing it as a phenomenon, rather than normal sargussum bloom patterns;
2. Researching causes and,
3. Exploring and implementing options to deal with it, especially longer term.
However, throughout Caribbean, Mexican and Florida locations which have been similarly affected, most actions are just at #3 stage.
This not like a broken sewer line which should’ve been fixed long ago. This is effects of global warming and the most that can be done is clean it up or, alternatively, leave it. All which has been done in the 12 or so years since sargassum bloom has been a phenomenon.
All the same, I’m sure CIG/DoE would welcome your suggestions on how to prevent, or divert it.
UWI in Barbados is doing research on other uses of sargussum, keep tuned and perhaps a big scientific revelation will show that sargussum is floating gold. You’ll be back in the CI you once loved to swim in it!
You lost me at global warming…
It’s from the worlds terrible farming practices of dumping nitrates on crops to make them grow. Combine that with raw sewage that goes into the sea… perfect recipe for the explosion of sargassum blooms.
Still No solutions for the Dump and Public Transportation. This is normal usual and customary for the Cayman Islands.
These worsening annual blooms seem to originate from altered salinities (including mismanaged fertilizer and animal waste effluent) from rivers emptying off the west coat of Africa where the windblown and current sent blooms impact the entire Atlantic basin from the SE to W and then north into gulf and also up the east coast on Gulf Stream.
The University of Florida has a Satellite based Sargassum Watch System (SaWS) that has tracked these blooms since 2011: https://optics.marine.usf.edu/projects/SaWS.html
Sargassum has been around since the Sargasso Sea was named, and for some time before that. What’s new in the last 15 years is the abnormal and escalating quantity of bloom material heading across the SE Atlantic and drifting into the Caribbean, Gulf, and up the East Coast of North America. It’s driven by the fuel of nutrient loading and rising surface water temperatures.
Dwayne thinks sustainability is saving a sandwich for later.
2:03pm Limited mentality.
What DEH fails to inform people about is that during composition Sargassum releases arsenic. So using this as a compost or mulch on your crop areas is a concern. But hey what’s the problem with a bit of arsenic in your diet?
sargassum can be used as fertilizer — and it has been traditionally used in coastal communities for centuries. However, there are important considerations and pre-treatment steps that must be followed, especially when using large accumulations like those found in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico today.
✅ Benefits of Using Sargassum as Fertilizer:
Rich in nutrients: Contains potassium, nitrogen, magnesium, and trace elements essential for plant growth.
Organic matter: Improves soil structure and moisture retention.
Natural growth stimulants: Contains alginates and hormones like auxins that promote root development.
Sustainable: Reduces reliance on chemical fertilizers.
⚠️ Important Considerations:
High salt content: Fresh sargassum is full of sea salt, which can damage soil and plants.
🔄 Solution: Rinse thoroughly with fresh water and compost it for several weeks to leach out the salt.
Heavy metals and contaminants: Floating sargassum may absorb arsenic, cadmium, or hydrocarbons.
✅ Composting helps reduce risk, but testing is advised before large-scale use.
Low nitrogen: Sargassum is lower in nitrogen than some other compost materials.
➕ Can be balanced by mixing with nitrogen-rich materials (e.g., green waste, manure).
Odor and decomposition: Decomposing sargassum can smell and produce gases like hydrogen sulfide.
📦 Best composted outdoors in well-aerated areas.
🌱 How to Use Sargassum as Fertilizer:
Option 1: Direct Use (after rinsing)
Rinse thoroughly with fresh water.
Sun-dry it for a few days.
Mix into soil at a shallow depth or apply as mulch.
Option 2: Compost It
Rinse and chop into smaller pieces.
Mix with green waste and brown matter (e.g., dry leaves, cardboard).
Let compost for 4–8 weeks before use.
Help yourself!
Initial decomposing Sargassum releases toxic Hydrogen sulfate (H2S) gas and ammonia, poisonous/dangerous to humans and pets. The arsenic is a later hazard in the decomposition cycle released into the soil, which unfortunately eliminates the possibility of using as straight up fertilizer/mulch product, unless that material is further stripped out via a processing circuit. There are some small companies that have been dabbling on this, via their own unwelcome deliveries of the SE Atlantic Sargassum problem, but sooner or later they find it to be prohibitively expensive without government subsidy.
Better not tell Kenny about all that weed.
It stalled under Donkey Dwayne? Well i never. He’s usually so efficient, and methodical, am sure that’s why that guru Joey Who welcomed him back in. Imagine being able to say hello in 450 languages from the opposition bench, oh, the fun they’ll have
cayman…. a place that can’t even buy a glass crusher….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
too little too late….we have poisoned our planet….
but maga muppetts will keep sticking their head in the sand
The world is turning away from evidence, facts, and science to enter a a new dark dark cage
“ if God wanted us to (progress), he would have…“
You mean like they did during Covid? Maybe have those in power stop lying to us for a year or two and people might be incline to believe what they say.
Where are the Maga Muppetts in China and India and Russia? These are the worlds Top polluters. They aint listening to Demoncrats or Maga muppets. You silly westerners believe the world stops with what the US and France does.
Wake up!
Russiaphrenia is a real diagnosis. The same goes for China. Have not been to India can only judge from what I hear.
Perhaps you reside on another planet and don’t know that France hasn’t been anywhere near the superpower levers for centuries.
Healthy beds of turtle grass also keep the worst of the sargassum off the beach. They are elevated and work as a natural barrier. They should be protected where they still exist.
Bullshit! Drive a boat along the shore of East End and see how much sargassum is being kept off the beach by the turtle grass. Idiot.
I feel bad for this new Government. ABSOLUTELY everything has to be a priority now. THIS, the DUMP, the BEACH erosion, PLANNING and then not to mention all the FINANCES. ANY previous Government should be so ASHAME!
We should go to the source of the problem in the Sargasso Sea and pour a 5 gallon bucket of roundup on it.
Problem solved. You’re welcome!
Please never reproduce.
In fact, going to the source is correct and likely the best solution. Proposals such as collecting and processing sargassum into biofuel using industrial shipping is one that hopefully gets developed. Locally what has been recommended by the DoE is the best advice…we might also consider not cutting in/ dredging canals and chopping down coastal mangrove defenses.