SEAFDEC-MFRD Regional Training Course in Malaysia Harmful algal blooms (HAB) and their socio-economic impacts are recognized internationally due to the negative impacts from HABs on the the coastal ecosystem, safety and security of food and drinking water, and human health hazards. Some incidents and occurrences are cross national borders and cover wide sea areas. HAB events especially affect the rapidly growing aquaculture industries in Southeast Asian countries, HAB monitoring programmes have been established and implemented. These programmes have been hampered by the lack of trained manpower in HAB monitoring. The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEFDEC) through the Marine Fisheries Research Development (MFRD) program has implemented a series of training workshops to enhance the expertise of personnel from its member countries. A regional training course with the theme Specimen Preservation and its Application in HAB Monitoring and Studies was successfully conducted at Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Malaya. The 4-day training course, hosted by Dr. Po Teen Lim, was attended by 21 participants from nine Southeast Asian countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indone- sia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam) (Fig. 1). The Chief of MFRD, Mr. Soon Eong Yeap in his official remarks, stressed the continuous commitment to support HABs and biotoxin programmes initiated through the Japanese Trust Fund on HABs and biotoxins. In the welcoming remarks, Dr. Lim highlighted the need for capacity building and strengthening of HAB research collaboration in the region (Fig. 2). The project leader of the UNESCO IOC WESTPAC HAB program, Dr. Mitsunori Iwataki, provided support by contributing reference and teaching materials. All lectures were followed by practical sessions on HAB monitoring and studies. An introductory lecture given by Dr. Lim highlighted HAB occurrences, types, causative species and impacts. Dr. Chui Pin Leaw provided lectures on the current detection technologies applied in HAB research and monitoring. The practical sessions included sampling devices and sampling processing, type of preservatives and stains, single-cell polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and real-time quantitative PCR for species detection and enumeration (Fig. 3). During the practical session, a contest on the best sketch of a HAB species was held and three par- ticipants from Thailand, Cambodia, and Philippines were awarded prizes. During the discussion session, participants expressed their interest on certain topics for the future training course. The 4-day training course ended with a certificate presentation ceremony. Authors Po Teen Lim, Toh Hii Tan & Chui Pin Leaw, Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, 16310 Bachok, Kelantan, Malaysia Email corresponding authors: ptlim@um.edu.my; cpleaw@um.edu.my Fig. 2. Observing phytoplankton specimens by microscopes. Fig. 3. Demonstrating qPCR assay for species detection. Fig. 1. Participants of the SEAFDEC Regional Training Course at Bachok Marine Research Station, University of Malaya. HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 58 / 2017 11 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 58 - November 2017 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab Call to Contribute to Global Harmful Algal Bloom Status Reporting From 25 to 28 September 2017 sixteen HAB experts from 13 countries gathered at the headquarters of the IOC IODE (Inte the first of which will be launched in Nantes. Follow the development of the Global HAB Status Report at http://haedat. iode.org/ and see who is involved and how you may engage. Acknowledgements We thank Ward Appeltans and Pieter Provoost at the IOC/IODE Project Office for hospitality and technical PSP# # # # # # DSP# # # # # # AZP# ! ! ! Fig. 4. Maps showing the incidence of PSP, DSP and AZP during the period 2014 to 2016 in the North Atlantic as reported by the ICES-IOC WG HABD. Areas such as Northern Canada and Greenland are not routinely sampled and countries with pink borders have sti Pelagic Sargassum reaching Serranilla Bank, Caribbean Colombia, may pose a risk to baby turtles Fig. 1. Location of Serranilla Bank in the Caribbean Sea (Photo Wikipedia) Floating Sargassum has been known from centuries to occur in the Atlantic Ocean, in a region named the Sargasso Sea. Floating S NEW!! Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Desalination: A Guide to Impacts, Monitoring, and Management Manuals and Guides 78 Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Desalination: A Guide to Impacts, Monitoring, and Management Fig. 3. Sargassum accumulation as a thick mat on the nesting beach Edited by: Dona A red tide event associated with the dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland Fig. 1. Maximum abundance of K. mikimotoi by month and year for monitoring sites in Scottish coastal waters. The densest bloom observed exceeded 4 million cells per litre in July 2016. The potenti Fig. 5. Theoretical effect of the K. mikimotoi bloom on background dissolved oxygen concentration (black horizontal dashed line: Firth of Clyde summer averaged SEPA data 2005-2015). Cell density was sufficient to cause hypoxia on 3 occasions at 4.59mg L-1[8] or once at 2mg L-1 (grey dashed lines). A First evidence of high saxitoxin concentration in Crassostrea iridiscens associated with Gymnodinium catenatum blooms at Banderas Bay, Jalisco México Fig. 1. Location of sampling stations in Banderas Bay Jalisco México during Gymnodinium catenatum bloom from March to June of 2017. Banderas Bay has Fig. 2. High saxitoxin concentration in Crassostrea iridiscens associated with Gymnodinium catenatum blooms in Banderas Bay, Jalisco México. Fig. 4. Micrographs of live cells of Gymnodinium catenatum from Banderas Bay at 400x (a) and 200x (b); Seawater discoloration due to a G. catenatum patch duri ICES-IOC Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms Dynamics The report of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dy namics (ICES-IOC WGHABD) is now available on the ICES website ( SEAFDEC-MFRD Regional Training Course in Malaysia Harmful algal blooms (HAB) and their socio-economic impacts are recognized internationally due to the negative impacts from HABs on the the coastal ecosystem, safety and security of food and drinking water, and human health hazards. Some incidents an Forthcoming events Workshop on morpho-molecular methods for the study of dinoflagellate cysts ICES-IOC-IMO Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors 5-7 March 2018 Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th February 2018 Location: Cawthron Institute, 98 Halifax Street East, Nelson 7010, New Zealand Organi the 18th international conference on harmful algae from ecosystems to socio-ecosystems SAVE the date! FATMA GUELLATI/UPMC-UNIV BADJI MOKHTAR Minyvel Environnement/Phenomer Nicolas Chomérat/IFREmer Véronique Séchet/IFREmer Olivier BARBAROUX/IFREmer Stéphane LESBATS/IFREmer Olivier DUG Rex Munday in Memoriam Dr Rex Munday, an internationally renowned toxicologist, sadly passed away on the 20th July this year. His wife Christine, daughter Sarah (Finch) and son John were with him. Rex published with all his family at different times, an example being the paper Munday, Munday and Mun Rex Mundays HAB research highlights Discovery of Tetrodotoxin in grey side-gilled sea slugs: Rex had a sharp wit, best illustrated with an anecdote from 2013. We had collected hundreds of samples to explain why dogs were dying on Auckland beaches and sent twelve to Rex for toxicity screening using l ! Oostende OBIS/HAEDAT training workshop participants. Eds-in-chief Beatriz Reguera, IEO, Vigo, Spain Eilen Bresnan, MARLAB, Scotland, UK Regional Editors Caribbean: Ernesto Mancera jemancerap@unal.edu.co Europe: Philip Hess Philipp.Hess@ifremer.fr India: K.B. Padmakumar kbpadmakumar@gmail.c