Florin Hossu, edited by Ophélie Artaud 9:55 am, August 14, 2022
These brown algae, poisonous and with a sickening odor, make everyday life for residents uninhabitable. Not only are they a health hazard, they are also an environmental disaster. In François, the city is trying everything to get rid of it, but lacks the funds to buy the appropriate equipment.
If you happen to be in the West Indies, you’ve no doubt seen them on the beaches. Sargassum, those brown algae that poison the lives of residents of coastal communities. Their decomposition releases a foul and poisonous odor. The government recently announced it would set up a public anti-Sargassum service to manage its collection through October. At Le François in Martinique, Pâquerette has lived in a veritable hell since arriving in the Presqu’île district four years ago.
“I lost all my fish”
“We breathe in sulfuric acid fumes all day long, leaving our skin tingling. It’s true it’s hell. We’re not snails and we don’t have the house on our backs. So we can’t go with the house.” She explains. The smell of these decomposing algae is really unbearable. Sargassum also poses a threat to ecosystems. A few weeks ago, Émile lost more than 16,000 fish suffocated by a huge shoal of sargassum. “It’s an economic catastrophe, it’s an ecological catastrophe. I lost all my fish,” he regrets.
The community does their best to collect them at sea with special equipment. However, you have to pay tens of thousands of euros for each operation. A real challenge for the city’s environmental director. “We have neither the equipment nor the money to buy machines truly dedicated to collecting sargassum.” The new subsidy promised by government services will also be used to purchase land to store the seaweed once collected.