The brown seaweed Sargassum muticum is an invasive species to the coasts of the British Isles, mainland Europe and North America. Attempts at its eradication and control have generally not been successful, although time-consuming and costly. The environmental and economic costs of biological invasions of non-native species in the early part of the last decade were estimated to be worth ~ US1.4trillionperyear,globally,equivalentto5 29.2 billion in on-shore spending in 2014. One of the key recommendations of the Caribbean Sea Commission in 2015 for addressing the threat of the Sargassum is to support research on commercial uses of Sargassum. Commercial exploration of this biomass for food, fuel and pharmaceutical products could encourage its harvesting and control. Sargassum has a naturally high content of antioxidants, carotenoids and phenols, including the well-known anti-cancer compound fucoxanthin, making this species a potential source of a range of pharmaceutically relevant materials. Macroalgae may also be a potential source of fuel. This paper discusses the use of Sargassum for both fuel and high value products together with the processes required to exploit it, especially on handling the discontinuity of supply
