Prime Minister John Briceño has held talks with a Hamburg-based technology company, as Belize and the Caribbean region continue to experience an increase in sargassum patches along their coastlines as a result of warming waters.
Sargassum is a genus of large brown seaweed (a type of algae) that floats in island-like masses and never attaches to the seafloor. Floating rafts of sargassum can stretch for miles across the ocean. This floating habitat provides food, refuge, and breeding grounds for an array of animals including fishes, sea turtles, marine birds, crabs, shrimp, and more. Some animals, like the sargassum fish (in the frogfish family), live their whole lives only in this habitat.
A government statement said the issue remains a major threat to the region’s economy given its primary economic earner is tourism revenue and that Briceño, in his capacity as vice president of the Sixth Session of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) DOCK Assembly, led a delegation of technical experts on research and educational visit to Variodin AG, the German-based company.
“In seeking technological solutions in managing waste, for example, sargassum, for the production of energy, and based on our research and ongoing discussions, Variodin’s technology can possibly assist to design innovative technology solutions that can address this threat in the region,” John Briceño said.
Belize, Jamaica, Barbados, and several other Caribbean nations have engaged in national efforts to address the issue of sargassum and its related effects on its industry and people. The island of St. Croix has even had to declare a state of emergency to address the mounting sargassum along its coastlines.
“The visit allowed the delegation a better understanding of how Belize and the Caribbean region can capitalize on and mitigate the growing threat of sargassum to the region’s critical tourism industry,” the statement noted.
It added that during the visit, the delegation also met with city officials and learned how they manage waste in their cities and some of the working solutions. The delegation included technical experts from Belize, the SIDS DOCK Secretariat, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
CMC/
