Environment Minister Addresses Inaugural Sargassum Symposium in Guadeloupe

Minister of Agriculture, Trade and the Environment Claude Hogan addressed the first International Conference on Sargassum in Pointe Pitre, Guadeloupe on Saturday October 27, 2019.

The conference, which ran from October 23 to 26, brought together nations of the Association of Caribbean States and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to discuss the issue of sargassum.

The Summit featured Heads of Governments of multiple countries in which a final declaration was signed to reflect their commitment to provide concrete and lasting responses to the invasion of sargassum.

Also in attendance was the Prime Minister of France Édouard Philippe.

In July 2018, the 5th Meeting of the OECS Council of Ministers for Environmental Sustainability held in Montserrat considered “Sargassum: Challenges and Opportunities” as a priority, and issued a statement in that regard.

It was endorsed at the sixth meeting of the council held in Martinique earlier this year.

Speaking on behalf of the OECS at the summit on Saturday, Minister Hogan recognized the scope and magnitude of the efforts by the French and Guadeloupe, through this conference, in response to real human suffering caused by Sargassum washing our Caribbean seashores,

Montserrat’s Environment Minister said the OECS was honoured and impressed at the spending power, science and organisational prowess brought to bear at this solution driven International Conference on Sargassum conference in our Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

He said the unprecedented quantity of pelagic Sargassum in the Caribbean islands since the spring of 2011 continues unabated. 

Sargassum, Minister Hogan said continues to have very serious consequences for OECS Member States.

Impacts from this influx, he commented, affect quality of life, human health and well-being, and socio-economic activity through coastal tourism, fisheries and navigation.