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PICTURED: Algas Organics founder Johanan Dujon

FISHERIES LAUNCH SEAWEED STUDIES

THE CARIBBEAN Regional Fisheries Mechanism has launched a Japanese-funded fact-finding study to look at the influx of Sargassum seaweed in the Caribbean Sea last year.

Sargassum has been found in the region since 2011, but officials said that 2018 saw record-breaking appearances, which could cost up to US$120m (£92m) to clean up.

CUBANA LINE GETS HELP FROM RUSSIA

RUSSIA IS to help Cuba repair its state-run airline, Cubana. Cubana mostly uses Russian and Ukrainian planes, including the 39-year-old Boeing 737 which crashed in 2018.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said after meeting Cuban Vice-President Ricardo Cabrisas that they had agreed for “future work on creating a services centre in Cuba dedicated to the aviation fleet.”

US, UWI IN SICKLE CELL RESEARCH

AMERICAN SCIENTISTS are working with Jamaican scientists at the
University of the West Indies on gene therapy trials to tackle sickle cell disease. Dr Monika Asnani, senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies’ Sickle Cell Unit, told the Jamaican Observer that one in every 150 Jamaican babies was born with sickle cell disease.

FROM WEED TO FERTILISER

ST LUCIAN biotech company Algas Organics has been lauded by Forbes magazine for its product which turns the problematic sargassum seaweed into fertiliser.

Founder Johanan Dujon told the magazine: “We are taking sargassum which is a Caribbean problem and converting it into an organic bio-fertilizer which addresses another problem – the use of toxic chemicals in agriculture.”

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