Inhabitants of the tourist communities of Verón and Punta Cana asked the authorities to intervene and deal with the problem of sargassum invasion that is already beginning to appear in the area.
Carlos Germán Mercedes from the Punta Cana Fishermen’s Association, and Emmanuel Rodríguez, from the Association of Artisans and Marine Services ( Arsemar ), affirm that sargassum hurts the economy of the region due to the problem it generates for tourism, fisheries, environment, and human health.
Although they recognize that sargassum is also an opportunity to generate mobile jobs.
They point out that the company SOS Carbon can be contracted to collect the sargassum in the sea before it invades the coasts and beaches, “and it is the only one that has proven to solve the problem, and at the same time adds value by generating jobs for the local fishermen themselves.”
Fishermen trained for sanitation work call on the authorities and tourist groups to join the sargassum elimination work in the area.
Both leaders point out that the training and efforts to support and integrate the community have gone hand in hand with the Fundación Grupo Puntacana and SOS Carbón.
They explained that SOS Carbón has been carrying out sargassum collection work at sea, effectively preventing invasions of the beach. They add that in 2021, together with allies from the tourism sector and fishermen, the Collection Module System Litoral (LCM for its acronym in English) collected more than 3.5 million pounds of sargassum in the Punta Cana area.
SOS Carbón has been supported by essential groups such as Banco Popular Dominicano, government organizations, and essential hotel chains. It has achieved an alliance with more than 15 groups from various sectors to work as a team and unify the work of environmental sanitation. In addition, the organization has developed partnerships with experts in the processing and recovery of sargassum, providing a circular and sustainable solution.