Ministry launches seaweed harvester

Yesterday at the Barbados Coast Guard HMBS Pelican Base, the Ministry
of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy’s new Seaweed Harvester was
launched, as part of an initiative to use the marine algae for innovation and industry.

The seaweed harvester was put through maneuvers by the Coast Guard for
those on hand to see how it would operate as it went about collecting
seaweed off the shores of Barbados. Speaking at the launch site,
Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey,
explained that dealing with the issue of the sargassum seaweed and the
greater influx of it on local beaches was in the works soon after he
took office. However, it was a task which warranted help and advice
from various other bodies, as to how to address the situation.
“We knew that we could not do it on our own and as a Ministry, we
needed the support of everyone else,” said Humphrey.

The minister then took the time to thank Colonel Glyne Grannum, Chief
of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF); the Barbados Coast
Guard; the National Conservation Commission and all those who helped
up to that point.

Humphrey addressed those present, highlighting that the Aquamarine
harvester would be a transformative part of the Seaweed Response
Program of the ministry. Along with the harvester, a seaweed
tractor/grabber and conveyor belt system also was purchased for a
total of just under Bds$300,000, which would all work together to
harvest the seaweed. Humphrey explained that the conveyor system was
to ensure that they were able to harvest the seaweed before it reached
the sand, providing batches of the fresh algae which would be used for more productive purposes.

The minister contended that the COVID-19 crisis has taught the world
that things must change going forward and he explained that Barbados
must work on being clean.

“The first thing that Barbados has to do is clean and the seaweed
harvester is part of our clean-up program. We are going to deploy the
harvester mostly along the early west coast and the south coast,” said
the minister.

Humphrey assured the public that the east coast would also be taken
care of, but mostly by manual labour as waters off the east coast of
the island were not favorable for the harvester. He explained that 75
people had been trained to work with the seaweed and 50 of those
persons would be deployed to work on the east coast in the coming
weeks. (AS)