Abstract

The negative impacts of sargassum seaweed influxes across the environment. society and economy in the Caribbean are generally well documented. However. impacts are not uniform across the region. in large part because the Caribbean is much less homogenous than is often perceived. Small island developing states (SIDS) are especially vulnerable to external shocks and lack the resources to mount an effective response. Fragmented coastlines and isolation from continental mainlands present logistical challenges. Spatial differentiation of the impacts would support more effective allocation of limited resources for management. This. however. is limited by the availability of consistent and systematic monitoring data. In this study. data extracted from publicly available aerial imagery (Google Earth) was used to map the spatial distribution of sargassum influx occurrence (exposure) on five Eastern Caribbean SIDS. Alongside this. existing spatial datasets were used to produce asset maps in multiple categories. particularly ecosystems assets. and economic assets for key sectors (tourism and fisheries). A template for a standard country profile consisting of key data relevant to assessment of sargassum influx impacts was developed and populated for each country. Exposure maps were overlaid with asset maps. and the exposure of specific asset categories was assessed quantitatively. While there are limitations. this allowed impacts to be differentiated by types of assets present/ absent. It is expected that this will be used as a basis for more detailed exposure analysis. further differentiation of impacts (for example by coastal morphology or coastal dynamics). vulnerability assessment of exposed assets. and strategic management responses.

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