Consultancy: Offshore Sargassum Interception, Containment, and Collection in Quintana Roo, Mexico

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About MAR Fund and MAR+Invest

The Mesoamerican Reef, stretching over 1,000 km along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, is the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere. The Mesoamerican Reef Fund promotes reef conservation through funding mechanisms and strategic partnerships. One such initiative is MAR+Invest, launched in 2022 by the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, which focuses on financing reef-positive ventures, including sustainable tourism, waste management, and other nature-based solutions.

The role

Sargassum, a brown macroalgae that forms part of the “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt,” has increasingly inundated Caribbean shores, especially along Quintana Roo’s coastline. As it decomposes, sargassum releases nutrients and toxins that damage coral reefs, seagrasses, and mangroves. Carbonwave, a company that transforms sargassum into agricultural and cosmetic products, plays a key role in valorizing this biomass, yet seasonal arrivals frequently exceed current processing capacity. To mitigate these impacts, MAR+Invest and Carbonwave propose a feasibility study focused on intercepting floating biomass offshore, before it reaches the nearshore zone, using advanced engineered barrier geometries combined with enhanced collection and transfer systems.

The Contracting Entity seeks a qualified consultant or consortium to assess and shortlist offshore interception and collection technologies suitable for Quintana Roo, including evaluation of previously and currently deployed systems in the region; collect and analyze field and operational data to optimize siting and design; produce a ready-to-deploy pilot plan for one or two priority locations; and deliver a feasibility study addressing technical, environmental, regulatory, and economic dimensions.

Responsibilities

• Screen multiple interception, collection and transfer technology options, nearshore and offshore, and shortlist the best options using a transparent decision framework and decision matrix
• Identify one or two feasible pilot locations and provide siting justification covering technical, environmental and social, permitting and operational factors
• Deliver an engineering package for a nearshore barrier pilot, including three anchoring and mooring concepts evaluated and ranked, and a selected configuration for deployment
• Support permitting preparation and deliver a permitting roadmap with agency map, required studies, timeline and estimated costs, and obtain all authorizations required for installation
• Prepare the environmental, social and occupational health and safety package, including risk register, mitigation measures, stakeholder engagement approach and emergency response plan
• Lead pilot deployment and commissioning, engaging and supervising any specialist marine contractors and vessels required
• Deploy the selected pilot configuration during the 2027 sargassum arrival period and implement a minimum three-month monitoring program with defined key performance indicators and reporting, covering barrier performance, collection and transfer performance, and environmental and safety monitoring
• Deliver the implementation roadmap and recommendations for scale-up, including capital and operating expenditure and operational requirements

Qualifications and experience

Required

• Demonstrated experience in marine engineering projects (barriers, moorings, coastal or nearshore infrastructure, or analogous systems)
• Proven track record in feasibility studies and pilot deployments in coastal environments
• Ability to work in Mexico and coordinate with local maritime and environmental requirements, with proficiency in English and Spanish
• Ability to produce high-quality written materials in both Spanish and English
• Minimum key personnel: Team Lead or Project Manager with at least five years of relevant experience, Marine Engineer or Mooring Specialist, Metocean or Oceanography Specialist, Environmental, Social and Occupational Health and Safety Specialist with marine or coastal experience, Permitting or Regulatory Specialist (Mexico coastal or marine preferred), and a Geographic Information System or Data Specialist
• Eligibility is open to individual consultants, firms, and consortia legally able to contract and invoice in Mexico, whether Mexican or foreign

Desirable

• Experience with monitoring, interception, or management of floating biomass such as macroalgae or marine debris in coastal environments
• Consultants and teams located in Quintana Roo, and those with prior experience in the Caribbean region or similar sargassum management projects
• A background in coastal environmental projects, marine debris, or related fields such as marine infrastructure and operations

Salary and benefits

Payments will be disbursed according to a deliverable-based schedule, tied to the satisfactory completion of agreed products and milestones, with tranches and amounts finalized during contract negotiations based on the consultant’s financial proposal. The financial proposal should consider all costs of the consultancy, including professional fees, travel, equipment, vessels, insurances, shipments, laboratory services and permits, as no additional reimbursements will be made outside the agreed contract sum. Payments will be made in US dollars or Mexican pesos and are inclusive of any taxes or obligations.

Location and schedule

The consultant is not required to be permanently based in Quintana Roo prior to the project, but full-time physical presence on-site is required throughout the entire installation, testing, and operational phase of the barrier, to supervise operations, manage logistics, and respond immediately to weather events, emergencies, or operational issues. Preference will be given to consultants based in Mexico, particularly those with local knowledge and operational capacity in Quintana Roo. The consultant must manage their own travel logistics within Mexico, particularly to coastal areas like Cancun, Tulum, or Cozumel, and should be prepared to work independently under tropical outdoor conditions with strict safety protocols. Appropriate marine and liability insurances are required, and the contractor provides personal protective equipment and safety gear suitable for marine operations.

The contract runs 50 weeks from signature, with an expected start date of 1 November 2026. Because sargassum arrivals are seasonal, the installation milestone is fixed: installation begins in the first week of April 2027 and must be completed and commissioned no later than 18 April 2027, before the peak of the 2027 season.

Deadline and how to apply

Proposals, technical and financial, must be submitted no later than 7 October 2026 at 23:59 hrs Cancun local time (GMT-5). Late submissions will not be considered. Send proposals and any inquiries by email to both Amy Jones, MAR+Invest Coordinator at MAR Fund (ajones@marfund.org) and Sebastian Aguilar, Research and Development Scientist at Carbonwave (saguilar@carbonwave.com), with the subject line “Proposal for Sargassum Offshore Collection Feasibility, [Your Name/Company]”. The deadline for questions or clarification requests is one week before the submission deadline.