With some beaches already inundated with Sargassum seaweed, Barbados is bracing for a “severe influx” of algae over the next three months.
However, Chief Fisheries Officer, Dr. Shelly-Ann Cox, said this year’s influx will be less than that seen in June 2022. She further noted that Barbados should expect continuous influxes of the algae throughout the next two years.
She made these disclosures during a press briefing to update the country on what was happening with the Sargassum seaweed, while at the Ministry of the Environment and National Beautification on Wednesday.
Dr. Cox explained that findings were contained in the May 2023 issue of the Sargassum Sub-Regional Outlook Bulletin released by the University of the West Indies’ Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies.
And, while the influxes are anticipated, Minister of the Environment and National Beautification, Adrian Forde, has made it clear that work on clearing the beaches would continue as normal, despite some of the practices being used by other Caribbean islands.
“What I saw over the last few weeks with an excavator being used in another country to remove Sargassum, I am saying in Barbados it will not happen…. We are not going to put an excavator to remove the seaweed. We
have been using manual labour because we understand the importance of preserving our beaches which are being reduced and eroded by the thrust of the sea because of sea level rise due to climate change and wave activity. We are not going to remove it in that way.
“We are going to allow what we have been doing for the last 10 years in terms of having those workers physically go and brush it, put it in bags and allow the drivers and workers of the NCC (National Conservation Commission) to remove it to a safe location. We have identified an area which was used for the better part of 10 years at Bath Land, St. John,” Mr. Forde said.
He added that Government incurred an annual cost of $2 million to employ persons from the Ministry of the Environment and the National Conservation Commission, with assistance from the Barbados Youth Advanced Corps, to ensure that the seaweed was safely removed from beaches.
That method, the Minister stressed, was “tried, tested and proven”, and done to protect the integrity of the beach and preserve the marine and biological diversity.
He stated that endangered species such as the Hawksbill, Leatherback and Green turtles must also be protected. “So, the importance of us removing the Sargassum in a safe way, we must recognise…that this is serious business and requires scientific and proven decisions and procedures to be followed,” Mr. Forde said, warning that the loss of biodiversity would pose a threat to life.