by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:50 AM ET, Wed October 21, 2026
Officials in Mexico’s federal and local governments are already discussing how to address the 2027 sargassum season, expected to reach a record-high 80 million tons.
According to Riviera Maya News, both the federal government and the government of Quintana Roo, a state that borders the Caribbean and receives much of the sargassum that washes ashore, are already planning for next year’s sargassum season as this year’s season begins to wane.
It was a record season this past year: Cancun’s Mayor, Ana Paty Peralta, told reporters that the city alone removed over 32,000 tons of seaweed from area beaches, double the amount in 2025. Across Quintana Roo, officials collected more than 133,000 tons of algae this year.
The sargassum season, which typically begins in spring and ends in October, started this year in January, before many impacted destinations were prepared for it. It became so bad that Quintana Roo officials called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency, prompting the federal government to provide a $115 million national plan to combat the algae.
Scientists reporting at the 4th EU-Caribbean Global Gateway Conference on Sargassum in early October predict that while 38 million tons of sargassum are currently floating in the Atlantic, that number will jump to 80 million tons next year.
NOAA’s Ocean Services and the UN Environment Program both say the main drivers of these record sargassum blooms are warming waters from climate change and agricultural runoff, which provides nutrients that fuel the algae.
In response to the 2027 prediction, Quintana Roo’s Governor, Mara Lezama, met with other officials to discuss a coordinated plan. Several organizations and countries respond to these sargassum blooms across the region, including the United States, the Mexican Navy, and science organizations like the Scientific Research Center of Yucatán, which is researching the algae for different uses.
“We continue working on the macroalga, sargassum, which affects the entire Caribbean, and it must be made very clear, not only the Mexican Caribbean, but the entire Caribbean,” said Governor Mara Lezama. “Not a day goes by that we are not working on a strategy.”
With a partnership with the European Space Agency, Mexico will soon be able to monitor sargassum from twelve different satellites.
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