Marine Policy 165 (2024) 106202
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First steps towards untangling the sargassum legal regime in Puerto Rico Mariana C. León-Pérez a, *, Richard J. McLaughlin a, James C. Gibeaut a, Lisamarie Carrubba b, Ricardo J. Colón-Rivera c, René Esteves d a
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5869, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, SSMC3 13th floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA c Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, San José Industrial Park, 1375 Ave. Ponce de León, San Juan 00926, Puerto Rico d Puerto Rico Sea Grant College Program, University of Puerto Rico, Call Box 9000, Mayagüez 00681-9000, Puerto Rico b
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Keywords: Sargassum influxes Participatory approach Permitting process Knowledge co-production U.S. Caribbean
A crucial factor limiting the implementation of effective mitigation actions for dealing with massive sargassum influxes is the lack of clarity of the sargassum legal framework. This article aims to clarify the sargassum legal framework in Puerto Rico focusing on sargassum removal from the beach and water, and the placement of sargassum contention barriers. A combination of a literature review, semi-structured interviews and a workshop were conducted to identify U.S. federal and Puerto Rico Commonwealth laws and regulations that apply. Furthermore, obstacles for implementing effective mitigation strategies were identified, and recommendations made to improve the permitting process. A flow chart of the permitting process was co-developed with agencies and academic representatives. Existing legal barriers were identified including lack of information and clarity in the permitting process and the extensive time required for permitting and for government policies to adjust to relevant groups’ needs. Recommendations provided by agencies and other social actors include the development of a territory-wide response plan and localized plans for priority areas, and the continuation of meetings with agencies to clarify legal aspects of sargassum mitigation actions including its disposal on land. This study con tributes essential information for the improvement of the governmental, private, and civil responses to sargassum events in Puerto Rico and other U.S. jurisdictions.
1. Introduction Massive, recurrent influxes of floating sargassum seaweed have been reaching the Wider Caribbean Region and West African countries for more than a decade [34]. Pelagic Sargassum spp. (Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans, referred to as sargassum from hereon) serve as an important habitat for marine organisms in the open ocean [24]. How ever, its unprecedented accumulation along shorelines has been detri mental to coastal and marine ecosystems [1,3,28,33,20], coastal communities and their livelihoods, fisheries, tourism, and public health [11,17,27,30]. Most of the impacts of sargassum in the natural and so cial systems are related to its natural decay when accumulated along the shoreline, affecting the water quality [33], and emanating toxic gases that smell like rotten eggs due to hydrogen sulfide produced as a degradation byproduct [27]. A variety of efforts have been undertaken throughout the region to mitigate the impacts of these events [7,9,11,26], including the
installation of floating boom barriers, removal in the ocean and beaches using manual and mechanical means, and finding alternatives for its reuse and valorization. The mitigation of sargassum impacts represents an economic challenge to the nations, states, and territories of the Wider Caribbean Region. Specialized equipment and infrastructure are needed for the containment, removal, transportation, and disposal or use of sargassum. Because sargassum influxes are a relatively new phenome non, no prior policy frameworks, management plans or regulations exist, and governments have been slow to respond [26,30]. The archipelago of Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States and has a complex regulatory and policy regime. The Commonwealth and U.S. federal government share jurisdiction over the coastal and marine resources in Puerto Rico. However, there is a lack of government support and policies to deal with sargassum [12]. Obser vations by the authors of this article suggest the public is generally unaware that certain sargassum removal actions in the coastal area require permits and reveal that these actions, as well as the placements
* Correspondence to: Institute for Socio-Ecological Research, 38 calle Muñoz Rivera, Cabo Rojo 00623, Puerto Rico. E-mail addresses: leonperezmariana@gmail.com (M.C. León-Pérez), richard.mclaughlin@tamucc.edu (R.J. McLaughlin), james.gibeaut@tamucc.edu (J.C. Gibeaut), lisamarie.carrubba@noaa.gov (L. Carrubba), rcolon@drna.pr.gov (R.J. Colón-Rivera), rene.esteves@upr.edu (R. Esteves). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106202 Received 17 October 2023; Received in revised form 9 April 2024; Accepted 10 May 2024 Available online 25 May 2024 0308-597X/© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).