If you have wondered why hardened mats of seaweed are increasingly littering beaches in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat and the Andamans, a new paper by researchers at the University of South Florida offers some answers. The study shows that seaweed blooms have expanded rapidly in tropical waters over the past two decades, thanks to global warming and rising pollutants. The Indian government, which counts some of the 844 species of macroalgae found in Indian seas as ‘medical food for the 21st century’ because of their use in treating a variety of conditions, must make use of this bloom in an organised manner. Higher seaweed farming support under the PM Matsya Sampada scheme coupled with marketing assistance can support fishers and reduce the beach blots at the same time.