Great news out of Mexico this week. The country is actively investing 11 million USD to tackle sargasso seaweed! A Mexican environmental agency is currently constructing barriers at sea, just beyond its famed Riviera Maya beaches, to decrease the amount of seaweed washing up onshore.
Quintana Roo state environment chief, Alfredo Arellano Guillermo, says he hopes to have anti-sargassum structures in place by mid-August. According to a statement released by his agency, the barriers do not present a risk for marine fauna or commercial boats.
In the past, Mexican authorities have only allowed the seaweed to be cleaned once it hits the beaches and the cost was bore by beachfront property owners. Now, the country will deploy a series of nets to trap the seaweed off-shore and will utilize specially equipped boats to remove it from the ocean before it reaches shorelines.
In addition, they are relaxing environmental rules so that beach cleaners can now go into the water and extract the seaweed instead of waiting for it to wash up on the beach. The government is also funding the removal of existing sargasso from hotel properties and public beaches.
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