Oceana is urging that the federal government's Tulum sargassum plan rest on scientific research and orderly management, warning that any strategy must weigh the alga's environmental, social and economic impact on the Mexican Caribbean.
The appeal comes as the federal government prepares to launch a coordinated program against sargassum along the Caribbean coast, one of the largest seaweed influxes the region has faced. For Tulum, where beaches drive tourism and anchor much of the local economy, the design of that program carries direct consequences.
Oceana wants the Tulum sargassum plan grounded in science
Edith Martínez, Oceana's communications director, said in an interview with Ivonne Melgar on Imagen Radio that the details of the federal program remain unknown, even as various efforts to address the problem are already under way. She argued that the response should be built on scientific evidence and a scheme of regulated use.
"It is important to also put scientific research front and center, to see what is viable to do with this alga," she said.
Her central concern is timing. The government, she suggested, should not settle on permanent solutions before the science that explains the phenomenon is better understood.
Why sargassum turns from habitat into hazard
Martínez was careful to separate the seaweed from the crisis it causes. In the open ocean, she said, sargassum is not a problem in itself. It forms part of the marine ecosystem and serves as shelter and a breeding ground for various species.
The damage begins when it reaches the coast in large volumes and starts to decompose. The alga is not toxic in natural conditions at sea, she noted, but as it rots on the sand it can release compounds that pose risks to people and to local flora and fauna. That, she argued, is why removal has to happen quickly, before decomposition sets in.
A resource the government now regulates
Sargassum was added to the Carta Nacional Pesquera, Mexico's national fisheries chart, in 2025. The change opened the door to regulating its use, though Martínez insisted it also raises the bar for how any harvesting should proceed.
"It has to be done in an orderly way, with scientific information, and to see how we can get the greatest social and environmental benefit from using this resource," she said.
Researchers are already testing whether the seaweed can be turned into construction materials, biofuels and other products, she added, but none of those paths has matured into a model worth copying.
"There are several initiatives, but there is still no example we can point to and say this is the path we should follow," she said.
Causes scientists are still untangling
The reasons behind the growing volumes reaching the Caribbean remain under study. Martínez pointed to several working hypotheses, among them climate change, higher nutrient loads from fertilizers and wastewater, and shifts in ocean currents.
Those factors have been identified as conditions that favor the alga's growth, she said, while research continues to pin down the origin with more precision.
"Everything is connected, and what we do on land also reaches the oceans, and the other way around," she said.
For Martínez, that link points to concrete tasks on shore. Managing wastewater and curbing the intensive use of chemical fertilizers, she said, are part of reducing the conditions that feed the blooms.
The economic and social weight on the coast
The reach of the problem goes well beyond ecology. Martínez said the mass accumulation of sargassum hurts tourism and also hits fishing communities and anyone who depends on access to the shoreline to earn a living.
The seaweed makes it harder to enter the water, disrupts the operation of hotels, restaurants and tourist services, and alters the condition of the beaches that define the Mexican Caribbean.
"It is not only an environmental issue. It already has an economic and social impact," she said.
What the federal plan looks like so far
The federal program is being coordinated by the Secretariat of the Navy and the Tourism Secretariat, and officials have said it will begin within roughly two weeks of its mid-July announcement. It includes the purchase of specialized vessels to collect sargassum at sea, before it can reach the shore, along with efforts to explore how the gathered seaweed might be reused.
Those pieces line up with much of what Martínez described. The gap she keeps returning to is the science, and whether the finer details of the program, still not public, will reflect it.
Research and the decisions that shape what comes next
Martínez tied the immediate choices to a longer horizon. Strengthening scientific research and training specialists in environmental fields, she said, will matter for confronting phenomena like sargassum, and the decisions made now will shape what future generations inherit.
"Those of us in today's generations need to question how we are consuming and how we are relating to the environment," she said.
For now, the plan exists in outline. Its budget, its full reach and the science behind it are the pieces still to be filled in, and they will determine whether this season's response becomes the template Oceana says the region still lacks.
Should the sargassum plan wait for the science before scaling up, or act now while the research catches up? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.