"The sargassum weed, which grows and spreads into thick floating mats, washed onto the beaches of the Caribbean in large volumes, particularly in 2011, 2014 and 2015, and reached unprecedented levels in 2018.

Indeed, the rate of spread of the sargassum weed in 2018 was such that there was great worry that the tourism industry, the lifeblood of many Caribbean islands, was threatened. The worry was justified because it spanned the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to the Caribbean, and appeared off the coast of Brazil and Mexico.

It is estimated that it covered 8,850 kilometres with weight of 22 million tons, and the noxious smell was said to have caused a decline of 35 per cent in tourism in some parts of the Caribbean.

While the weed clogs fishing nets and fish pots and cuts off the air from coral reefs and mangroves, we are told that instead of killing fish it actually nurtures over 120 species.

For some time now, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has been hosting seminars at which the threat posed by sargassum and remedial measures are discussed.

While the pungent, smell and the gases emitted by the weed can cause olfactory problems, we are told that in some Caribbean territories sargassum is used as animal feed and food for humans, in cosmetics, and for the manufacture of disposable-food containers, and bricks for construction."