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Holbox fishermen confirm no red tide for Quintana Roo

Chiquilá-Holbox, Q.R. — Fishermen in Chiquilá and on the island of Holbox confirm they have not been affected by the Peninsula’s red tide. Jesús Valerio Aparicio, president of the Chiquilá fishing cooperative, says the Quintana Roo area is completely free of any such thing.

He says the last time they noticed a red tide spot was in small patches in 2008 near the island of Holbox, however, there were no major consequences during that spell. The red tide currently being reported in the neighboring state of Yucatan has not affected Quintana Roo.

Aparicio says the more than 500 local area fishermen have not seen any affects of the overgrown algae that areas of Yucatan have experienced. He says it’s actually been on the contrary, since the marine life have arrived in the Holbox area where waters are free of the toxic algae.

Over the weekend, a red tide spot arrived along the coast of Yucatan between Chicxulub and San Crisanto. More than 1,150 kilos of dead marine life have been removed from the affected coastal area of San Benito so far.

According to the Government of Yucatan, the most affected beaches include Telchac Puerto, Uaymitún and San Benito.

The microscopic algae began to arrive along Yucatan shores several days ago. The bloom of seaweed produce toxins that kill fish and make shellfish dangerous to eat. According to the NOAA, the toxins may also make the surrounding air difficult to breathe. As the name suggests, the bloom of algae often turns the water red.