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 Organisers: Kirsty Smith, Lesley Rhodes (Cawthron Institute), Kenneth Neil Mertens (Ifremer, France) We invite you to participate in this workshop which will discuss traditional morphological methods and novel molecular methods (e.g. qPCR, metabarcoding) and how to combine these techniques to achieve the best results when identifying dinoflagellates and their cysts. Other protists can also be included if there is interest from participants. During the workshop the pros and cons of traditional microscopic techniques versus novel molecular techniques will be discussed and demonstrated; incubation techniques will also be demonstrated. Participants are invited to present their research during the workshop, and bring samples/slides to study. If coming from overseas, please check with Kirsty Smith for quarantine requirements. The workshop, which includes complimentary lunches on Monday and Tuesday, is free and will require registration only (no charge). Participants have to pay their trip and accommodation. Please contact the organisers for suggestions on travel to Nelson and accommodation. Please let us know as soon as possible if you wish to attend as the number of participants is limited to 20. Hope to see you there! Kenneth Mertens, Kirsty Smith & Lesley Rhodes, Cawthron Institute, New Zealand Email: kirsty.smith@cawthron.org.nz 12 The next meeting of the Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors (WGBOSV) will be held in Caniçal, Madeira, Portugal from 5 to 7 March 2017. If you, or any expert from your country, wish to attend, please contact the chair of the WGBOSV, Dr. Baily: Sarah.Bailey@ dfo-mpo.gc.ca SETAC Europe Conference, Rome 13-17 May 2017 In the framework of the next SETAC Europe conference (Rome, 13-17 May 2017), within Track 4 Ecological risk assessment and human health risk assessment of chemicals mixtures and stressors and risk mitigation strategies, the following session has been proposed. 4.6 Do human activities and global change influence the occurrence, toxicity and pathogenicity of marine harmful microorganisms affecting seafood safety? Co-chairs: Jorge Diogène, Angelo Maggiore Variations of environmental factors associated with human activities and global change may have direct and indirect impacts on the occurrence, dominance, persistence, adaptation, toxicity and pathogenicity of marine microorganisms. For example, changes in climate may allow originally tropical phytoplankton species to expand their spatial and temporal distribution to previously temperate waters. Shellfish, finfish and other marine organisms can accumulate in their organs pathogenic microorganisms or the toxins they can produce, which are transferred within food webs reaching humans through consumption of seafood. Changes in the biology and ecology of pathogenic and toxin-producing microorganims could therefore determine an increase in the number and intensity of seafood-related diseases. Microorganisms and toxins not previously reported in European seas are now appearing, including areas that are intensive producers of seafood. This is a cause of concern as some of these emerging hazards are not included in current legislation and monitoring programs. This session has different objectives. A major objective will be to gather information and data on variations in the occurrence, intensity, species composition, toxicity and pathogenicity of harmful marine microorganisms. Particular attention will be focused on biologically relevant areas (hatching, nourishing areas), sensitive areas (estuaries and coastal zones), harvesting, fishing areas or areas occupied by aquaculture facilities. These data should include information on environmental variables linked to climate change (pH, temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrients etc). This information is crucial for the development of models that may be able to predict the spatio-temporal distribution of harmful microorganisms, their toxicity/pathogenicity and the bioaccumulation of marine toxins in marine organisms. These models may provide management tools for the design of sampling programs and the implementation of mitigation strategies, taking into consideration the possible co-occurrence of different harmful organisms. This session will also identify research needs and knowledge gaps in understanding how environmental changes will affect the microbial community, in particular the mechanisms underlying their sensitivity to changes (acclimation, physiological plasticity, strain diversity etc). It will also intend to favour a critical analysis of how human activities and global change are impacting the ocean microbial community and discuss future trends in research to better assess this issue, with particular focus on the impact on seafood safety and public health. The deadline for abstracts submission is November 29th, 2017. More info at: http://bit.ly/2yj1Ogv HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 58 / 2017 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