Overview

• The regional government’s four-point approach includes targeted research, regular coastline monitoring, community outreach and a pilot program to repurpose the algae biomass
• Cádiz authorities have cleared roughly 1,200 tonnes of Rugulopteryx okamurae from La Caleta beach since May, peaking at 78 tonnes in a single day
• Since first appearing in Ceuta around 2015, the Asian brown alga has spread from the Strait of Gibraltar to Andalusian shores, the Canaries, Azores and northern Spanish coasts, displacing native marine plants
• Local tourism in Cádiz and Tarifa has dipped as beaches foul with algae and fisheries report damaged nets and shrinking catches
• Strict Spanish invasive-species regulations bar commercial use of the algae unless it poses proven environmental or health risks, complicating plans to turn the biomass into energy, fertilizer or packaging