Sargassum Crisis Eases in Mexico’s Quintana Roo

QUINTANA ROO, Mexico — The 2025 sargassum season, one of the most intense ever recorded in Quintana Roo, is entering its final stage, with environmental authorities forecasting that the macroalgae will have practically disappeared from the coasts by the end of October. This offers temporary relief after months of ecological and tourism crises. However, the management of this contingency has been marked by both unprecedented efforts and strong questioning of the authorities.

Authorities Under Scrutiny and the Tourism Impact of Sargassum in Quintana Roo

Previously paradisiacal beaches in Playa del Carmen and Tulum were invaded by tons of macroalgae, deterring bathers and generating high cleanup costs. Even emblematic enclaves like Cancún and Isla Mujeres faced significant sargassum landings. In the south of the state, communities like Mahahual and Xcalak suffered particularly severe waves, with over 3,200 tons of algae removed in just two months.

The eastern coast of Cozumel also recorded unusual amounts, with all its monitoring points on red alert for sargassum accumulation. It is estimated that during the worst moments of the season, more than 50% of Quintana Roo's tourist beaches were affected by this phenomenon.

Despite the evident impact on the beaches, the official discourse has tended to minimize the repercussions on tourism. In August, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo stated that the presence of sargassum "has not had a real impact" on the influx of visitors to Quintana Roo, alluding to successful coordination between the government and the private sector to keep the beaches clean.

However, local business owners contradict this optimistic vision. Otto Von Bertrab, president of the Ecology Commission of Coparmex Riviera Maya, revealed that September, traditionally a low month for tourism, was "fatal" in terms of visitor arrivals, with drops of up to 20% in the operation of ecotourism parks in Playa del Carmen.

Faced with these financial losses, the business sector demanded more energetic actions from the government, even proposing a permanent crisis protocol with the participation of all three levels of authority to confront sargassum on the beaches.

Various voices have questioned the government's response during this contingency. National and international scientific institutions warned since the beginning of the year that 2025 would be an atypical season, possibly surpassing historical records for sargassum arrival. However, the official reaction was perceived as slow; it was not until June 9 that state and municipal authorities installed the 2025 Sargassum Strategy Table to coordinate actions, when the problem had been growing for months.

Although marine barriers were placed and algae collection was intensified with support from the Navy, these actions proved insufficient against the thousands of tons that arrived, highlighting deficiencies in public policies and a meager budget to confront the phenomenon. Local press has accused the ruling class of having "believed its own discourse" that "nothing is happening," underestimating the threat until the situation spiraled out of control.

In summary, the magnitude of the problem exceeded the local scope and that reassuring message; today, experts consider the sargassum arrival a matter of national security due to its economic, environmental, and health impacts, evidencing that the phenomenon overwhelmed the authorities' control capacity despite their discourses of efficiency.

Record Figures in 2025 and Official Measures to Confront Sargassum

The 2025 sargassum season has left unprecedented figures. According to state monitoring, approximately 120,000 tons of sargassum were collected on the public beaches of Quintana Roo throughout the year. This amount marks a historical record, far surpassing the 100,000 tons reported in 2018 (until now the worst year on record). Between August and September alone, nearly 20,000 additional tons were removed, reflecting the atypical magnitude of the phenomenon this year.

To dimension the problem on a regional scale, specialists point out that 2025 has been the year of greatest sargassum proliferation in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean. It is estimated that there were up to 50 million metric tons floating, of which around 5 million entered Mexico's exclusive economic zone.

Faced with this avalanche, authorities implemented emergency measures. The Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) coordinated a "triple helix" attention model involving the three levels of government, the private sector, and civil society. Approximately 200 naval elements were deployed at different points along the coast, divided into North (Isla Mujeres, Cancún, Puerto Morelos), Central (Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Tulum), and South (Punta Allen, Mahahual, Chetumal) zones.

Nearly 9.6 kilometers of floating barriers were installed, and specialized vessels were used for the containment and collection of the algae: one oceanic sargassum vessel, 11 coastal vessels, 2 Aquamarine-type barges, 22 smaller support vessels, among other equipment.

Thanks to these efforts, the Navy reported having removed, on its own, about 14,787 tons (8,284 tons offshore and 6,502 on land) so far this year, contributing to the joint scheme that, by early September, totaled more than 76,800 tons removed overall in the state. This deployment involved tripling collection efforts compared to 2024, as acknowledged by Semar itself.

In addition to the operational response, authorities made announcements and institutional adjustments to improve sargassum management. At the end of August, Mexico, together with the European Union, convened a regional ministerial meeting titled "A Sea of Opportunities: Uniting the Greater Caribbean Against Sargassum," aiming to coordinate a bi-regional action plan focused on the detection, monitoring, collection, and utilization of the algae under a circular economy approach.

At the local level, the government of Quintana Roo advanced ambitious plans for 2026, projecting the launch of a Sargassum Circular Economy Park to industrialize the macroalgae and give it market value. Furthermore, the recent inclusion of sargassum in the National Fishing Charter marks a regulatory milestone that will allow private companies to participate in the collection and processing of the algae.

This provides certainty to investors interested in utilization projects (for example, bioenergy production, construction blocks, biofertilizers, etc.), opening the door for the private sector to complement tasks that until now fell almost exclusively on the Navy. Local business organizations, like Coparmex, have supported these initiatives and ask for the establishment of permanent strategies to not depend solely on emergency reactions each year.

The environmental and health consequences derived from sargassum have also driven these actions. Experts warn that the massive decomposition of the algae generates leachates and toxic gases (mainly hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and methane), which cause strong odors and can lead to nausea, eye irritation, headaches, and even respiratory and kidney ailments in exposed individuals.

Therefore, direct contact with water and sand where sargassum accumulates is recommended to be avoided, and it should be removed as soon as possible to minimize its ecological impact. Studies have ruled out using this algae as agricultural fertilizer due to its high arsenic content and warn that its uncontrolled proliferation could lead to an environmental disaster altering coastal ecosystems (reefs, marine fauna) and deterring tourism in the long term.

In response, both authorities and local communities have recognized the urgency of managing sargassum comprehensively: not only removing it from the beaches but also investigating its causes (related to climate change and ocean pollution) and seeking productive uses that mitigate its current consideration as mere "garbage."

Quintana Roo finally glimpses cleaner beaches towards the end of 2025. Important lessons remain from this record sargassum season. Inter-institutional coordination and the effort of hundreds of workers partially contained the brown tide, but the criticisms underscore the need for greater prevention, funding, and long-term planning to face future waves.

The Sargassum Monitoring Center anticipates that 2026 could be another atypical year, with early landings from January and a peak in spring. Faced with this projection, authorities, scientists, the private sector, and civil society are preparing to not lower their guard. Transforming sargassum from a threat into an opportunity through its industrialization and sustainable management will be key for the Mexican Caribbean to overcome this natural challenge each year, protecting both its ecosystems and the region's tourism economy.