Teleconnected SARgassum risks across the Atlantic: building capacity for TRansformational Adaptation in the Caribbean and West Africa (SARTRAC)

In most small islands and many coastal developing countries, the majority of settlements, government, transport and communications infrastructure are located in the coastal zone. Access to the coast allows access to natural resources (e.g. fisheries), transport, recreation, as well as supporting tourism - on which many low and middle income countries depend for employment and income. In the Caribbean, climate change is bringing sea level rise (affecting coastal erosion), warmer seas (associated with coral bleaching), decreased rainfall (affecting agriculture) and the risk of stronger tropical cyclones, for which islands are preparing. These are the known risks and disaster risk reduction measures are often quite advanced e.g. tropical cyclone early warning systems and coastal erosion management. New risks, which have the potential to create significant economic and social damage are only now starting to be documented. These risks are far less well understood, and include large ocean waves from distant sources, transcontinental dust clouds, invasive species moving across boundaries, and the spread of aquatic pathogens. In this latter group is the emergence of very large quantities of Sargassum seaweed inundating beaches of the Caribbean, Central America, and West of Africa since 2011. Such massive and recurrent inundation events are known as golden seaweed tides, with seaweed piling up to 3m high on beaches. The Sargassum decays shortly after reaching the shallow areas and beaches. In the decay process Sargassum consumes oxygen out of the surrounding water, killing fish and other marine creatures, and releasing hydrogen sulphide gas - causing human skin irritation and respiratory problems, and an unpleasant smell. The Sargassum stranding events are unpredictable, but can have major social, economic and environmental impacts.
In the SARTRAC project, UK researchers are teaming up with partners in the Caribbean and West Africa to build capacity within the Caribbean and West Africa to answer a number of questions: why did the Sargassum start to mass produce in 2011? Are the large quantities of Sargassum in Spring/Summer, the new 'normal' for the Caribbean and West Africa? What are the trend projections for the Caribbean and West Africa? Can Sargassum stranding predictions be delivered at the local scale and in the short-term? What are the long-term economic and social impacts of the Sargassum strandings? What are the best methods for managing the strandings and are there opportunities for equitable resilience from re-use of the seaweed? Why are communities not already re-using the seaweed - what barriers exist? What are the success stories about re-use, how did they occur, and how transferable are the lessons learned? What are the opportunities for and barriers to regional governance of the Sargassum issue?
SARTRAC will address these questions using a multi-disciplinary capacity-building approach to research on: drivers of the growth of the seaweed; risk communications; monitoring and early warning systems; opportunities for re-use of the seaweed; and the opportunities for affected nations to work together to develop regional responses and trans-regional support. By combining knowledge and skills from a range of disciplines and organisations, we can approach these questions from multiple perspectives to gain a more complete understanding. Our approach also encourages the view that opportunities exist from seeing Sargassum as a newly available economic resource. All research will be delivered through a transformational adaptation lens driven by the project PI, i.e. all researchers will be tasked with ensuring that all outputs contribute to the equitable resilience of the poorest groups affected by the Sargassum stranding events.

We identify six groups of beneficiaries:
1) Local and national government agencies involved in managing the impacts Sargassum strandings can improve the wellbeing and development opportunities for coastal residents. In Jamaica these agencies are: National Environment Planning Agency, Jamaica; the Planning Institute of Jamaica; government agencies in each of the other English-speaking Caribbean DAC countries. In Ghana: the Ghanaian Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD); the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in Ghana.
2) Marginalized and poor coastal communities affected by Sargassum strandings throughout DAC countries of the Caribbean, Central America and West Africa currently struggle to deal with the Sargassum events, suffering health, livelihood and access impacts.
3) National and regional agencies in Caribbean DAC countries and engaged in monitoring and early warning schemes (MEWS) for Sargassum beaching, such as those established in Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico. SARTRAC will share with MEWS agencies in selected Caribbean DAC countries best practice and work with them to establish operational real-time prediction of events through skill development, training and knowledge sharing.
4) Researchers in UWI and Uni of Ghana will have the opportunity to share knowledge, to attend sabbaticals in the UK, and to bid for additional funds within SARTRAC (the Flexible Innovation Fund) to undertake additional research or capacity building as needed. Each annual consortium meetings will include scheduled training to build capacity in areas identified by partners during the inception phase.
5) Regional organisations who may become the hub for regional Sargassum governance, such as Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS), Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre in Belize; the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, (CIMH), Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM)
6) International organisations with responsibilities for the oceans/food security, e.g. UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and NGOs concerned with the conservation of coastal ecosystems in the region, e.g. Waitt Institute.

Benefits will arise:
WP1. Through a deeper understanding of the drivers that determine the seasonal and interannual variability in Sargassum beaching, and a bespoke system for predicting when and where beaching events will happen, we can build capacity at local and national level to prepare for such events.
WP2. Through development of an operational, near real-time Sargassummonitoring system, coupled to a dissemination system, we will provide communities and agencies with information needed to develop risk management strategies and adaptation to the "new normal" of seasonal Sargassum strandings. We will document the nature of the impacts and adaptations, and identify the worst affected communities, and communicate best practice management approaches.
WP3. Through evaluation of the potential for Sargassum re-use as texturing agents for the food industry, biofuels, fertilizers, animal feed, biomaterials, nutraceuticals, and cosmeceuticals, we will identify transformational adaptation options for Sargassum-receiving communities, providing new knowledge that may create opportunities for communities throughout the region and in West Africa. We will engage with communities to identify the barriers to uptake of alternative uses of Sargassum, and to share success stories of Sargasssum re-use.
WP4. Through deliberative workshops we bring together stakeholders, facilitate the development of an integrated inter-state governance network to co-ordinate policy, administrative, technical and legal aspects of the response to Sargassum beachings, seeking outcomes to the Sargassum crisis that generate equitable resilience for the poorest.