Sheinbaum Announces 2.6 Billion Peso Sargassum Strategy

Facing its worst sargassum season on record, Mexico’s federal government unveiled a new strategy July 30 to intercept the seaweed before it reaches Quintana Roo’s beaches, backed by MX$2.64 billion — roughly US$150 million — in new spending.

President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the plan during her morning press conference at Palacio Nacional, flanked by Navy Secretary Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena and Tourism Secretary Josefina Rodríguez Zamora. Sheinbaum had toured the coastline by helicopter with the Navy secretary in recent weeks, flying from Tulum to Puerto Morelos to see the damage firsthand.

This year’s bloom has been extreme. Bárcena said the volume of sargassum drifting through the Mexican Caribbean is four times greater than last year and 27 times above the historical average, with as much as 90,538 tons floating in Caribbean waters on peak days. About 10% of that typically reaches shore. By late June, a local monitoring network rated 92.5% of Quintana Roo’s beaches as having “excessive” sargassum.

The new plan concentrates on five destinations — Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Tulum and Mahahual — covering 40 to 50 kilometers (about 25 to 31 miles) of coastline. Morales Ángeles said the strategy shifts the priority toward stopping sargassum at sea, before it reaches the sand, through two new tugboats, six coastal harvesting vessels, expanded ocean barriers and upgraded beach-cleaning equipment. A first phase will draw MX$768.7 million of the total budget.

The cost of doing nothing has been steep. Quintana Roo Gov. Mara Lezama has said sargassum management consumes about 11% of the state’s economy, or roughly $2 billion a year, while the Riviera Maya hotel association estimates its members spend about $150 million annually just removing algae from beaches.

Beyond collection, officials outlined plans to turn the seaweed into a business. Bárcena said nearly 200 initiatives nationwide are already working to convert sargassum into biofuel, fertilizer, bioplastics, paint and other materials, and that 39 companies currently sell sargassum-based products such as biogas, bioethanol and sodium alginate. The government plans to build a circular-economy hub on about 99 acres in Puerto Morelos, near where the Navy already delivers collected sargassum, to process the material at industrial scale.

Rodríguez said the goal is to make Mexico an international reference point on sargassum management, adding that no other country has combined offshore collection, beach cleanup and industrial reuse of the algae within a single strategy.

Bárcena also announced an international meeting set for October 1 and 2, bringing together Caribbean nations affected by sargassum, along with Japan, to compare approaches. She said the Dominican Republic has expressed interest in buying Mexican-built collection vessels.

Sheinbaum encouraged travelers not to cancel Quintana Roo trips over sargassum, saying many beaches remain clean despite the surge.

Scientists trace the modern sargassum crisis to 2011, when nutrient-rich currents pushed the algae out of the Sargasso Sea and into the tropical Atlantic, fueling blooms that now affect dozens of countries along the Caribbean basin.

Fast Facts

• Investment: MX$2.64 billion (about $150 million)
• Beach zones covered: Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Tulum, Mahahual
• Coastline affected: 40 to 50 kilometers (25 to 31 miles)
• Peak daily sargassum volume: up to 90,538 tons in Mexican Caribbean waters
• Share reaching shore: about 10%
• New vessels: two tugboats and six coastal harvesters
• Planned circular-economy hub: Puerto Morelos, about 99 acres
• International sargassum summit: October 1-2, with Caribbean nations and Japan

With reporting from La Jornada, Reforma, UnoTV, Forbes México and Reportur