OECS Participates in Study Tour to Explore Solutions for Sargassum Influx in the Region

OECS Media Release

The brown colour and fowl stench of Sargassum algae have periodically plagued beaches in the Caribbean in recent years, impacting sealife, tourism and livelihoods of those who work in the blue economy.

The Commission of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is dedicated to promoting sustainable solutions for environmental and development challenges. Keeping to this commitment, representatives of the OECS participated in a study tour in September 2023 with the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and AlgalTek, an algae production company. The OECS team comprised of representatives from the OECS Mission in Geneva, led by Ambassador Colin Murdoch, as well as colleagues from OECS headquarters in Saint Lucia. 

The Paul Sherrer Institute (PSI) is a leading research institute for natural and engineering science. AlgalTek specialises in algae products, algae bioproducts, research, consulting, and development. AlgalTek has an aim to produce high-quality products from algae biomass in an environmentally friendly manner, including food, cosmetics, packaging and other materials.

The main activity of the study tour on September 18, 2023, was designed to identify a baseline for research and technology, and help participants build capacity to support projects aimed at effective management and use of Sargassum algae. Participants had the opportunity to see some of the innovations in algae production and studied various methods to process each component of Sargassum algae that can be adapted for different uses–pigments, proteins, lipids, minerals, microfibrillanted cellulose, biofuels and bioplastics, residue etc. They were also able to explore modern methods to collect Sargassum algae and discussed possibilities for export for the OECS region. 

Stakeholders and media can follow meetings of the OECS Council of Ministers: Agriculture via the OECS online pressroom to find out updates on decisions made regarding food, agriculture and fisheries in the region. This includes developments with the Food and Agriculture Systems Transformation (FAST) Strategy.

Claudia Mc Dowell

Communications Specialist, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

OECS Communications Unit

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an International Organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance among independent and non-independent countries in the Eastern Caribbean. The OECS came into being on June 18th 1981, when seven Eastern Caribbean countries signed a treaty agreeing to cooperate with each other while promoting unity and solidarity among its Members. The Treaty became known as the Treaty of Basseterre, so named in honour of the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis where it was signed. The OECS today, currently has eleven members, spread across the Eastern Caribbean comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

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