UK firm provides sargassum solutions in Caribbean
A UK-based ocean farming company is providing the technology to transform the Caribbean’s sargassum seaweed problem into a sustainable business.
If the project works, it could provide a long-awaited solution to the region’s tourism that has taken a hit due to the seaweed’s yearly visit.
UK company Seafields Solutions Ltd has teamed up with Private Refuse and Garbage Disposal (PRGD) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to launch the second phase of a Sargassum Beach Clean-Up Project. The project is being funded by the World Bank and the OECS and will run from September 2025 to April 2026.
Seafields will provide ocean-harvesting technology while PRGD will provide clean-up services as they work to convert sargassum into products such as bio-stimulants and biochar for agriculture. The project is expected to create jobs and new revenue streams for communities in SVG.
Seafields CEO John Auckland said the goal is to prove that sargassum can be “transformed from a costly environmental burden into a valuable resource,” laying the groundwork for long-term commercialisation.
News of the new investment to tackle sargassum comes amid mass hotel cancellations in the region and loss of income for fishing communities as countries spent valuable resources to rid their coastlines of the seaweed.
The Virgin Islands is no different, with repeated sargassum invasions which have clogged desalination plants, affected water quality, and hurt tourism in the territory. Government efforts have so far focused on costly beach clean-ups, with calls for more sustainable solutions.
If the SVG pilot succeeds, its model could be exported to other territories, offering the BVI a potential blueprint to tackle the seaweed crisis while building a stake in the region’s growing blue economy.
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I see another consultant and a government backhander coming!
How many native Virgin Islanders will you employ- another scam to get their friends into the country.
Nobody in the BVI is trying to solve this problem properly, and everyone here benefits if it is solved, potentially by it being diverted before it even arrives on our shores. So it matters not if local people are employed in the ocean-based harvesting.
In theory there will be more jobs in tourism as a result because there is less sargassum pollution negatively affecting our tourism product. So THAT is how the native Virgin Islander gets their job…
Read and think more, rather than just moaning the whole time.
makes sense so it wont resonate with many.
How did you get in ?
They start the problem now turning the solution into a business. This world we live in I tell you smh…
They propose this to the same leaders who refused free UK vessel to patrol the borders in corona time and turn down the loan to help their country and people but steady paying out big cash of money to friend’s family and the elite circle? Lol I going wait to see this.
That is why the BVI who was once in front in the Caribbean is dropping way behind
Too many negativity
Do you have a better solution?
Come forward with it
Airport behind
Hotel industry behind
Agriculture behind
Tourism behind
People too rude, disrespectful, and arrogant
Lots of talk little action
I completely agree. We just need to change the entire HOA members. All current politicians need to go!!!!
Push pop, Kevin F, Bevin G, picko moff, Thor downing, Sasha VG, Sheep OG. Just to name a few off the top of my head. I got more. Sip on that for a bit. Let’s get these clown out!!! All of them!!!
Do people read before commenting? The story is about a pilot project in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and most commenters are responding as if it’s taking place here.
There is no problem is nature.
We are interested to procure dry Sargassum can I know exact sps.
Can I know the exact sps