Youthful Dominicans are turning an environmental crisis into an innovative solution by collecting seaweed offshore and developing biotechnology to give it economic value, protecting ecosystems, and supporting coastal communities.
The Caribbean is facing a massive invasion of sargassum seaweed, a macroalgae that, when it decomposes on the beaches, releases harmful toxins. This phenomenon devastates marine ecosystems, cautilizes skin irritations, drives away tourism, and erodes the coasts, even preventing species like sea turtles from nesting.
Facing this challenge, the Dominican entrepreneurship SOS Carbon conceived an innovative and revolutionary solution: collecting the seaweed directly offshore before it reaches the beaches.
The devastating impact of an invasive algae
Ocean warming has altered currents, pushing massive amounts of sargassum seaweed from the Atlantic towards the Caribbean coasts. Its decomposition acidifies the oceans, contributing to coral bleaching, vital ecosystems that host a third of marine life.
The economic impact is severe: it is estimated that each hotel in the Dominican Republic spconcludes up to 70,000 dollars monthly on rerelocating the algae from the beaches.
For local fishermen like Ramón, the consequence is direct: “For 15 years, I’ve been pulling out dead fish, turtles, or crabs on the mats of algae.” The decline in fishing forces many into poorly paid tourism jobs or even migration.
Innovative solution to the sargassum environmental problem[/caption>
An innovative offshore solution that alters the paradigm
The patented system by SOS Carbon, already implemented in Mexico, Antigua and Barbuda, Puerto Rico, and with plans to expand to Europe, collects up to 70 tons of sargassum seaweed per day.
This is equivalent to rerelocating 70% of the total amount that arrives annually on Dominican coasts, preventing it from reaching the shore in a toxic state and avoiding the erosion cautilized by cleaning with tractors on the beach. Additionally, it creates jobs for affected local fishermen.
From waste to resource: the commitment to blue biotechnology
The innovative solution did not stop at collection. Under the wing of SOS Carbon was born SOS Bayotec, focutilized on finding economic value in sargassum seaweed.
“The Dominican Republic has become an innovation laboratory,” notes the project, which avoids exporting the raw material and exploits its entire value chain locally. They are pioneers in blue biotechnology, developing products such as agricultural biostimulants.
“Good performance is the size of our crops, of the plants, of the leaves… better coloration, better size, sugar content,” they explain about their results.
The “symbiotic marine” is already applied in 30 crops, like the tomatoes of farmer Jeffrey Puyols, who observes plants with shorter internodes and higher productive potential.
Rerelocating sargassum from Caribbean beaches[/caption>
Although promising, biostimulants still do not completely replace chemicals, especially for controlling pests like thrips and whiteflies, which have led to agricultural bans.
Technician Alexander Díaz warns that the excessive utilize of chemical fertilizers contributes to the original problem, acidifying soils and seas: “They generate many negative impacts on the soil microbiota.”
While the SOS Bayotec team advances in more comprehensive biofertilizers, they also explore other utilizes. Biotechnologist María, attracted by the project’s holistic approach, works on creams for skin diseases and researches applications in cosmetics and bioplastics.
“What motivates me the most is that I can have creative freedom, see a problem and declare: with this seaweed, how do we find a solution?,” she affirms.
What started as a response to an ecological and touristic emergency is evolving towards a circular economy model.
The sargassum seaweed, once a toxic plague, is now emerging as a resource with multiple applications, demonstrating that local
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