The Department of Analytical Services within the Ministry of Agriculture is exploring ways in which by-products of the sea plant, sargassum, can be used in the manufacture of “high end” commodities.
Sargassum seaweed wreaks havoc on coastlines of countries across the Caribbean, including Antigua and Barbuda, and is a major challenge for hoteliers with beachfront properties.
Known for the pungent, sulphuric odour it produces once it begins decaying, the seaweed has a severe negative impact on the tourism industry.
Along with other Eastern Caribbean islands, Antigua and Barbuda experienced moderate to severe sargassum influxes in the first quarter of 2022.
Regional discussions have commenced on the possible uses of the seaweed and in Antigua and Barbuda, Director of Analytical Services, Dr. Linroy Christian, says his department is examining how it can be transformed into items that can generate revenue.
“We’re working on a position paper on it to look at the high-end commodities that can come from seaweed.
“Cosmetics for instance, textiles, you have the issue of the fertiliser, which I think has to be looked at with a bit of a jaundiced eye, because you could be entering heavy metals into the environment with the use of it as a fertiliser, but we are trying to engage different partners on this.
“I think establishing a bioreactor here would be a good idea and we look at what products can emanate from that,” Dr. Christian stated.
In 2021, the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Analytical Services shipped its first batch of sargassum seaweed to Finland. It was received by Origin by Ocean, a Finnish company being incubated within the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Global Innovation Centre (GIC) in Sweden.
This initiative was the first phase of a project being developed by Origin by Ocean to design a new biorefinery process (Nauvu®) for the extraction of biomolecules for use in food, cosmetics and domestic detergent, all from marine biomass.
While local experts are conducting in-depth studies on the benefits of sargassum, Dr. Christian noted that adequate funding will be critical to support the required research.
“We’re exploring avenues with the EU, exploring avenues with Mexico and Finland and we’ve had discussions with the UN officer here and also the New York office [of] Ambassador [Aubrey] Webson. We’ve had discussions on this.
“So, we are constantly looking at how, because allowing it to land on the beach and scraping it off the beach is just not a sustainable effort.
“A lot of money is spent; a lot of damage is done. How about we engage the hotel industry to invest in sargassum, such that we could develop products.
“There are avenues to explore, it is a resource that we have to manage and there are ways to do it, but funding is always the limiting factor,” Dr. Christian said.
