An unexplained fish die-off in Caye Caulker has left residents searching for answers after videos showed large numbers of small fish floating lifeless in the waters surrounding La Isla Cariñosa.
The incident has alarmed residents, who say the smell from the dead fish has spread across parts of the village. Some have questioned whether the ongoing sargassum influx has pushed the coastal ecosystem beyond its limit.
One resident blamed the worsening sargassum crisis and questioned the response from authorities. “The cause is the sargassum that the politicians are making no effort to invest in a real solution… Can’t blame our village council with limited resources, it’s beyond them. The minister responsible can’t say he have no funds.”
Another resident described what they witnessed before the fish began washing ashore. “Whatever happened over here was Thursday evening when all of the sargassum landed on the front north split. Hundreds of birds were feeding, and even crocs came out at 1pm to feed on the alive, but dying bait fish. We wake up to all of the dead fish yesterday. Nothing has eaten them once the rest died.”
Meanwhile, a video shared by a third resident showed murky brown water littered with dead fish. “Look at the waters surrounding Caye Caulker, all those little white things are dead fish. This is what our guests are coming to see, brown water and dead fish,” he said, describing the sargassum as “choking our marine life” and calling it a “plague.” In that same video, he also identified what appeared to be a dead eel floating among the fish.
No official cause has been confirmed, but scientists have long warned that decomposing sargassum can create conditions that are deadly for marine life. As the seaweed breaks down, it can rapidly reduce oxygen levels in the surrounding water while releasing gases and other compounds that place additional stress on fish and other aquatic species.
