NOAA Mobilizes To Gauge Unprecedented West Coast Toxic Algal Bloom

"NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle has mobilized extra scientists to join a fisheries survey along the West Coast to chart an extensive harmful algal bloom that spans much of the West Coast and has triggered numerous closures of important shellfish fisheries in Washington, Oregon and California.

The bloom stretches from the Central California Coast north to Washington and possibly Alaska, and involves some of the highest concentrations of the natural toxin domoic acid ever observed in Monterey Bay and off the Central Oregon Coast. In early June elevated toxin levels led shellfish managers to close the southern Washington Coast to Dungeness crab fishing, the largest-ever closure of Washington's multi-million-dollar crab fishery.

'We're taking advantage of our active surveys to focus research on a serious concern for coastal communities and the seafood industry,' said Eileen Sobeck, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. 'The better we understand what's happening out on the water, the better we can address the impacts.'"

Phys.org had the story June 15, 2015.