Battling Sargassum on Caye Caulker

Coastal communities continue to be affected by sargassum that has been littered across beaches, particularly in prime tourist destinations. We’ve documented this issue in San Pedro and the mitigation efforts taken by the town council and the business community. Over on Caye Caulker, the situation is no different. But according to the leaders in the village, they have the situation under control.

Seleny Villaneuva-Pott

Seleny Villaneuva-Pott, Independent Candidate, Caye Caulker Village Council

“Caye Caulker was blessed towards the end of the STP Two program, we received a beach raking which came in very handy. So what we’ve done is assign the beach raker in area it can go. So we take it out in areas and it cleans up the different areas where it can reach. It can only reach to a certain depth because of the water. What we’ve done is that we’ve hired additional men to pile and we try to remove as quickly as possible. There are days when we see it extend out maybe six feet; however, with the machine and the man power, a collaboration of both things, we have it under control. I’m happy to say that we try our best and our guys try their best to keep it under control. We’ve seen pictures of other destinations that are struggling, that is not yet the case and I pray that it is not the case in Caye Caulker ever, but for now we have it under control and we hope to keep it that way. If the demands increase for man power then we will have to increase the number on the beaches.”

Maria Vega, B.T.I.A. Chair, Caye Caulker Chapter

“I would also like to add that with the private sector, a new sargassum task force her on the island has recently been formed and they are looking at new solutions including trying to, as you know, spin this sargassum into some kind of gold yarn or something without make it pay so we have our best minds put to that right now.”