Taming the Sargassum Surge: Why the Caribbean Needs Shared Dashboards

Seaweed at the Shore, Data in the Dark

In 2024 roughly 20 million tons of sargassum clogged Caribbean beaches, costing tourism millions and threatening marine life. A CRFM–New Zealand partnership is turning the weed into compost and biostimulants, but many island partners still use disconnected templates.

The Pain Points

  • Slow knowledge transfer. Pilot lessons take months to cross borders.

  • No live capacity map. Processors can’t see where fresh stock is piling up.

  • Reporting fatigue. Field officers re-enter the same data for each funder.

How EMPHASIS Helps

  1. Shared Knowledge Hub – version-controlled SOPs accessible region-wide.

  2. Real-Time Bloom & Capacity Dashboard – satellite layers meet processor inventory in one map.

  3. Template-Driven Exports – one input, many donor formats.

When seaweed moves faster than spreadsheets, beaches (and budgets) suffer. Join a 90-day free trial of EMPHASIS’s collaboration workspace.