Antigua and Barbuda’s representative at the OECS Mission in Geneva,
Switzerland, Ambassador Colin Murdoch, was part of a study tour that the mission
mounted, to an institute where research is being conducted into sargassum.
Each year, the brown colour and fowl stench of the sargassum algae have
periodically plagued beaches in the Caribbean in recent years, impacting sea life,
tourism, and livelihoods of those who work in the blue economy.
In a media release, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
Commission said it is dedicated to promoting sustainable solutions for
environmental and development challenges. “Keeping to this commitment,
representatives of the OECS participated in a recent study tour with the Paul
Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and AlgalTek, an algae production company. The
OECS team comprised of representatives from the OECS Mission in Geneva, led
by Ambassador Colin Murdoch, as well as colleagues from OECS headquarters in
Saint Lucia,” according to the release.
It described the Paul Sherrer Institute (PSI) as a leading research institute for
natural and engineering science. AlgalTek specializes in algae products, algae
bioproducts, research, consulting, and development. AlgalTek aims to produce
high-quality products from algae biomass in an environmentally friendly manner,
including food, cosmetics, packaging, and other materials.
The main activity of the study tour was designed to identify a baseline for research
and technology and help participants build capacity to support projects aimed at
effective management and use of Sargassum algae. Participants had the
opportunity to see some of the innovations in algae production and studied various
methods to process each component of Sargassum algae that can be adapted for
different uses–pigments, proteins, lipids, minerals, microfibrillated cellulose,
biofuels and bioplastics, residue, etc. They were also able to explore modern
methods to collect Sargassum algae and discussed possibilities for export for the
OECS region.
Members of the OECS Mission in Geneva join other OECS delegates and the
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on the occasion of the deposit by St
Lucia’s WTO Ambassador, Anthony Severin, of the Instrument of Ratification to
the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement at a ceremony at the WTO HQ in Geneva
this week.
