According to the Government of Quintana Roo, the unpleasant seaweed season has ended for 2023.
This Thursday in the auditorium of the Ninth Naval Zone, Governor Mara Lezama gave special praises to workers and volunteers who kept the coastline clean to provide a healthier and more enjoyable environment for visitors and locals.
She also highlighted that thanks to cleaner beaches, many top-class events could take place in Quintana Roo and bring the destination into the spotlight.
Quintana Roo was under a thread
Earlier this year, a 5,000-mile-long seaweed belt threatened the beautiful Caribbean beaches – the main attraction for tourists coming to the state.
The estimation of its weight was about 13 million tons. But already by May, it shrank by 15% and eventually caused less damage than expected.
Initiatives implemented by federal, state, and municipal authorities also contributed to cleaner beaches. In fact, 22,000 tons of seaweed was collected from the shoreline of Quintana Roo.
It was mainly thanks to 11 newly built sargassum coastal vessels, 16 vessels with collecting devices, and over 9,000 meters of barriers installed along the coastline.
When does seaweed season start in the Mexican Caribbean again?
The 2023 Sargassum season began earlier than expected, commencing in February, so next year it’s expected to start in February. Traditionally, this seaweed season begins in early spring and peaks in May, June, and July.
To do it together is the key to success
Governor Lezama mentioned that a company in Puerto Morelos has obtained the first permit from COFEPRIS (Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios) to make organic fertilizer from the collected sargassum. She also said that the State of Quintana Roo is working on other solutions on what to do with the sargassum.
Admiral Abraham Eloy Caballero, the Commander of the Ninth National Region, pointed out how important it is to unite to achieve the objective of cleaner beaches.
“We could turn our backs on the problem or start an individual fight, but we all decided on the best strategy and that was to work to keep intact the unique beauty of the beaches of this region in addition to preventing it from getting out of control and causing irrecoverable health, economy and ecology losses,” he stated.