Web Site Tracks Predicted New England Red Tide Outbreak On April 24, 2008 scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) forecasted the potential for a larger-than-normal Alexandrium bloom in the Gulf of Maine. Depending on weather and ocean conditions, this yearÂ’s bloom could be comparable to the historic bloom of 2005 that resulted in an estimated direct impact of $18 million to the commercial shellfishing industry in Massachusetts.
Red tides, also known as harmful algal blooms or HABs, can produce potent neurotoxins that accumulate in filter-feeding shellfish and other parts of the marine food web. Shellfish contaminated with the toxin from Alexandrium, if eaten in large enough quantity, can cause illness or death from paralytic shellfish poisoning or PSP. States have well-established, rigorous shellfish monitoring programs to protect human health, so consumers are assured that commercially available shellfish are safe for consumption.
Mon, 19 May 2008 12:45:47 EDT New NOAA Model Links Mississippi River Nutrient Outflow to Florida Red Tides A new NOAA research model indicates nutrients flowing from the Mississippi River may stimulate harmful algal blooms to grow on the continental shelf off the west coast of Florida. According to the model, algal blooms form on the Florida coast because of weather and gulf currents. The algae grows offshore, supplied with additional nutrients that appear to have originated from the Mississippi River, in a process driven by normal seasonal wind patterns.
Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:30:41 EST NOAA Initiates Project to Protect Coastal Oregon Communities from Harmful Algal Blooms NOAA has awarded $456,630 as part of a five-year, $2.3 million project to develop integrated harmful algal bloom (HAB) monitoring and event response programs. These programs will strive to minimize the impact of HAB events on coastal Oregon communities. Funds were awarded to Oregon State University, the University of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) through NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
Toxic algal blooms have had a significant impact on Oregon coastal communities and their economy for decades. In 2003, ODFW estimated that the cost of a domoic acid (HAB toxin) related closure of the razor clam fishery at Clatsop Beach, Ore., cost the local communities $4.8 million.