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Home: ISSUES: Pollution and Degradation: Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB)
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Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) Maintained by IOC  
        
Harmful Algal Blooms
 
The term 'harmful algal blooms' (HABs) covers a heterogeneous set of events that share two characteristics: they are caused by microalgae and they have a negative impact on human activities, including inter alia: human health, fisheries, aquaculture and tourism. Despite these common features, HABs are very diverse in terms of causative organisms, dynamics of blooms and types of impact. Over the last 30 yeats there has been an increase of HAB records in coastal waters around the world. The list of new HAB species has also increased remarkably in recent years as a result of new cases of harmful events, the progress of scientific research in the field, and increased human interactions with the coastal zone. However, it is not possible to demonstrate a world-wide increase in HABs because it is currently not possible to detect long-term trends of algal blooms due to the lack of time-series measurements (i.e. routine measurements over long periods of time) at the correct scale.
 
Correct management is required to mitigate the threat posed by HABs to the health of the marine environment, the economic development of coastal areas and to human health. The key to predicting HAB phenomena is to identify and quantify adaptations of HAB species that lead to their selection in particular hydrodynamic and ecological conditions. Thus, the central research problem and challenge for biological oceanographers is to understand the critical features and mechanisms underlying the population dynamics of HAB species. This understanding will serve as a basis for improved monitoring and will facilitate the development of models that predict the occurrence, movement, toxicity, and environmental effects of harmful algal blooms. These forecasting capabilities are essential for an efficient management and mitigation procedure.
 
 
 
 
Institute NameNorthWest Fisheries Science Center  ( CONTACT [INSTITUTION] )
Short Institution NameNWFSC
DescriptionThe Northwest Fisheries Science Center studies living marine resources (e.g., salmon, groundfish, and killer whales) and their habitats in the Northeast Pacific Ocean-primarily off the coasts of Washington and Oregon and in freshwater rivers and streams in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. The Center includes the new West Coast Center for Oceans and Human Health.
KeywordsNORTHEAST PACIFIC OCEAN; FISHERIES; MARINE RESOURCES; ECOSYSTEM; ECOTOXICOLOGY; FISH; MOLLUSKS; CRUSTACEA; HUMAN HEALTH
Geography KeywordsNORTHEAST PACIFIC; UNITED STATES; CALIFORNIA CURRENT
Type of InstitutionResearch Institution
Contact
Ali Senauer
PositionPublic Relations Officer
Address
2725 Montlake Boulevard East
Seattle   WA
USA   98112
Telephone1-206-860-3200
EmailAli.Senauer@noaa.gov
Homepagehttp://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/
Photograph1095960483044_montlakebldg.jpg
Additional Linkshttp://www.magazine.noaa.gov/stories/mag145.htm
  
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generationTime:2005/01/13 12:33:49