Launch of the 2nd joint Sargassum call for projects to increase knowledge and provide pragmatic solutions to the massive stranding of Sargassum seaweed.
Since 2011, the coastal regions of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico have been experiencing a massive and continuous influx of Sargassum seaweed. In 2018, there were 20 million tonnes of sargassum stretching over 8,800 kilometres.
This uncontrolled proliferation of algae has an impact on human health, with massive emissions of hydrogen sulphide and ammonia. There are also economic consequences, particularly for the tourism industry.
In order to understand and improve the management of Sargassum algal blooms, the French National Research Agency (ANR) is launching its second call for projects, the aim of which is to develop knowledge of the causes of occurrence and their annual variability, in order to better predict the years when conditions for stranding Sargassum beds are very high.
The call focuses on three themes:
construction of a common data set to feed the various hydrodynamic models;
biological model of sargassum for coupling ;
development of an integrative model coupling hydrodynamics and Sargassum biology to explain the variability of Sargassum-related events.
Supported by the ANR, CONACYT (Mexico), FACEPE (Brazil) and the NWO (Netherlands), the aim of this call for projects is to provide pragmatic solutions to the problem of sargassum stranding and to increase knowledge of this phenomenon, which particularly affects the islands of the Caribbean basin.