The ICES-IOC Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics 2019 Meeting The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics (WGHABD) met from the 2nd 4th April 2019. The meeting was hosted by Dr. Wenche Eikrem at NIVA in Oslo, Norway. Working group members continued to update the IOC-ICES-PICES Harmful Algal Event Database (HAEDAT) during 2018 and production of the ICES Harmful Algal Event status report is underway. This ICES report will form the contribution from the North Atlantic area to the IOC Global HAB Status Report. A summary of the HAEDAT data from the North Atlantic area and changes in the regional distribution of harmful algal events over the last 20 years will be made at the ICES Annual Science Conference, 9th 12th September, Gothenburg, Sweden. National reports revealed that HABs continued to cause a variety of problems in the ICES area during 2018. Examples of some extreme events reported included impacts from a Karenia brevis bloom in Gulf of Mexico. This bloom was very prolonged along the Participants in the ICES-IOC WGHABD 2019 meeting 20 western coast of the Florida panhandle and was associated with extensive mortalities of fish, marine mammals and seabirds, as well as human respiratory irritation and negative impacts on tourism. Cyanobacteria in the rivers flowing from Lake Okeechobee also impacted waterways in the west and east of Florida resulting in extensive scums and water discolourations. Cyanobacteria caused problems in Polish coastal waters, with an exceptional bloom resulting in the closure of many tourist beaches during the summer of 2018. In Denmark an extensive bloom of Lepidodinium cf. chlorophorum was observed in western coastal waters, resulting in green water discolourations. The first closure of shellfish harvesting areas in Sweden due to high concentrations of azaspiracids was enforced during 2018. Closures of shellfish harvesting areas as a result of paralytic shellfish toxins associated with Gymnodinium catenatum were reported from Portugal and Spain. In contrast, some countries experienced fewer impacts from HABs. For example no closures of shellfish harvesting areas were enforced due of paralytic shellfish toxins in Ireland, the south west of the UK and France during 2018. New findings presented included an update of the use of satellite imaging to identify and assess the risk from HABs using examples from ongoing projects (PRIMROSE, SHELLeye, S-3 EUROHAB), investigations in the Netherlands into the occurrence of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in shellfish, the use of molecular methods to identify HAB species using qPCR methodologies (Ireland) and metabarcoding (Norway), investigations into the occurrence of Nodularia spumigena blooms in Oslofjord using sediment cores, a review of Dinophysis and diarrhetic shellfish toxins in Irish shellfish from 2005 to 2017 and preliminary analysis of historic phytoplankton and toxin data from Scotland. Phytoplankton images from the live stream of the Imaging Flow Cytobot in Hong Kong were also viewed. Progress on work underway in Europe addressing issues associated ciguatera fish poisoning as part of the Eurocigua and MIMAR projects was reported. Details of a workshop, now fully subscribed, on real time quantitiative PCR to develop climate services for monitoring harmful algae blooms in their marine environment (co-sponsored by the Co-Clime project) hosted by the Alfred Wegner Institute in Bremerhaven in October 2019 was presented. As WGHABD is co-sponsored by the IOC, the WG was invited to complete an informal survey to inform the development of the Science Plan for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. More information about UN Decade can be found at https:// en.unesco.org/ocean-decade. Studies underway on Polar HAB species included results from investigations from Greenland and Iceland. Preliminary results were presented from new projects focused on polar HABs e.g. TaXMarc (Norway), Arctic PRIZE (UK) and a dedicated cruise planned to the Arctic in 2020 (Sweden). As a result of the growing interest in polar science to identify and understand impacts from climate change, this term of reference will be carried over to next years meeting to allow further results to be presented. The next WGHABD meeting, 2 4th March 2020, will be hosted by Dr. Hanne Mazur from Institute of Oceanography in Sopot, Poland. The meeting will be held jointly with the ICES -IOC Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors (WG BOSV) and ICES WG Introduction and Transfer of Marine Organisms (WG ITMO) with Wednesday 3rd March being a shared day between the three working groups. During the 2020 meeting WGHABD will also present national reports and new findings, review progress with new technologies to identify HABs particularly in operational settings, update and discuss future work with HAB event data, provide updates on incidences of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) and associated efforts on research and prevention and present any relevant updates relating to HABs Continued on next page HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 62 / 2019 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 62 - June 2019 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab The 18th International Conference for Harmful Algae Twenty five years after the 6th International Conference on Toxic Marine Phytoplankton (6th ICHA, 1993), experts on harmful algal bloom Fig. 2. Ice-breaking at La Cité, Nantes, during the 18th ICHA, 2018 SHA society members were kept very busy, fully engaged with the evaluation of student presentations to choose the candidates for the Maureen Keller awards, the election of Yasumoto lifetime achievement awards, voting for future con Scientific and social scenes from participants during the 18th ICHA, Nantes, 2018. HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 62 / 2019 3 Scientific Highlights of the 18th Inter national Conference on Harmful Algae Plenary talks and Yasumoto awards Each morning and afternoon session began with plenary speakers who covered a number of topics including: climate change impacts on inland and coastal eutrophication (Anna M. Michalek), chem Maria Immacolata Ferrante investigated the Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata sexual cycle and found the gene that determines the mating type in this pennate diatom. Pseudo-nitzschia is found globally in the Tara Oceans dataset and the genes expressed during the sexual phase can track this important but Fig. 2. Extracellular vesicles in Alexandrium minutum. From left to right: Vegetative cell under light microscopy; epifluorescence microscopy showing the cell chloroplasts in red; vesicles in green due to lipid stain PKH67, and composite of the epifluorescence images, theca of the cell is in blue, Fig. 3. Co-evolutionary arms race. Diatoms sense presence of copepods via presence of chemical cues (copepodamides), and respond by producing domoic acid which then affect the copepods (reduced escape response). Photo courtesy of Nina Lundholm. War (Pat Tester) the socio economics session was as di Fig. 5. IAEA Technical Cooperation project: the Caribbean team having a coordination meeting with the boss. produced by Alexandrium minutum and demonstrated that these EVs were produced in laboratory cultures and in situ bloom conditions. The EVs appeared adhered to the cell surface of A. minutum c Global HABs, Global HAB Status Reporting, and Climate Change HABs and climate change attracted a record of 139 abstracts at the Nantes Conference. Research towards predicting the impact of climate change has progressed from single factor growth experiments (e.g. temperature, pCO2) with limited HAB s Barcodes and long term changes in HAB distributions Thal-ass-ee-oh-CY-ra, Key-TOSS-er-us,Pro -toe-pear-a-DIN-ee-um, Sir-A-she-um... this might be a parody of a (very short) genetic barcode or it might be gibberish. It is in fact a sample from a list of phytoplankton genera on flashcards designed to of a highly dynamic biogeographical boundary. Taxonomic uncertainties exist in Chilean waters too, and more recently (2006) PSP was detected as far north as Bahía Mejillones in 23 S. Pre-instrumental proxies indicate climate trends on secular and longer time scales. Luminescent bands in Porites cora Unprecedented bloom of the cyano bacteria Aphanizomenon in a coastal bay of El Salvador Cyanobacteria bloom in marine, freshwater and estuarine ecosystems [1]. It is widely recognized that increased nutrient inputs in waterbodies may enhance cyanobacterial growth, resulting in harmful algal blooms [ Fig. 2. Aphanizomenon fascicles found in Bahía de Jiquilisco observed using an inverted microscope. providing video material, the Secretary of Scientific Research from the University of El Salvador for logistic support, and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) for providing wate Dinoflagellate toxins recorded during an extensive coastal bloom in northern Chile Harmful algal blooms (HABs), commonly known as red tides, are primarily caused by the accelerated growth of phytoplankton due to a variety of oceanographic factors. Dinoflagellates and diatoms are often the phytoplank Table 1. Toxin concentration per sample. Toxins screened included PTX1 (pectenotoxin-1), PTX2 (pectenotoxin-2) and YTX (yessotoxin). DA (domoic acid), SPX1 (spirolide-1), GYM (gymnodimine), OA (okadaic acid), DTX1 (dinophysistoxin-1), DTX2 (dinophysistoxin-2), AZA1 (azaspiracid-1), AZA2 (azaspiracid HABs in Paradise revisited Fig. 1. Map of Rangitāhua/Kermadec Islands. Over 700 kilometres to the northeast of New Zealand are the largely uninhabited Rangitāhua/Kermadec Islands (Fig. 1). The islands fall within New Zealands exclusive economic zone and several recent expeditions have resulted in Table 1. Dinoflagellate species identified in epiphytic samples collected from Rangitāhua/Kermadec Islands, 2013-2018. Species Amphidinium carterae A.cf. massartii Coolia malayensis Gambierdiscus australes* G. honu G. polynesiensis Ostreopsis sp. 3 Prorocentrum cf. emarginatum P. hoffmanianum P Epiphytic dinoflagellates from Niue, South Pacific Ocean cal Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT) [6] suggests avoidance of reef fish over 2.7 kg and avoidance of the liver, intestine, head and roe of smaller reef fish. Gambierdiscus sp. was reported in Niue in 2008, although no molecular confirmation Fig. 2. Sampling site at Avatele Beach (left) and coastal view (right), Niue. The ICMSS is an initiative of researchers from various international institutions, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), related to the safety of molluscan shellfish. It seeks to be The ICES-IOC Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics 2019 Meeting The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics (WGHABD) met from the 2nd 4th April 2019. The meeting wa Intergovernmental Panel convenes to set priorities for international cooperation on mitigating the effects of Harmful Algae The Fourteenth Session of the IOC Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (IPHAB) was held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, from 24th to 26th April 2019. The Panel review GlobalHAB and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) GlobalHAB webpage (www.globalhab.info) On 1st January 2016, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic U GlobalHAB APPLICATION FORM FOR ENDORSEMENT OF ACTIVITIES To be completed in English and send to the Chair of the GlobalHAB SSC. For further guidance consult the Chair and/or Vicechair of the GlobalHAB SSC. Date: 1. PROJECT TITLE: Planned duration of activity, from : 2. APPLICANT(S): Name and tit GlobalHAB International Coordi nated Activities Some international coordinated activities listed in the Science and Implementation Plan are being led by the GlobalHAB SSC because their implementation depends on international coordination and funding. The SSC has assumed this responsibility for their Scientists interested in the topic can contact Leonardo Guzmán (leonardo. guzman@ifop.cl) and Henrik Enevoldsen (h.enevoldsen@bio.ku.dk). May 2020 Planning is underway for a workshop on Modelling and prediction of harmful algal blooms, from event response to multi-decadal projections to be held in ISSHAs Corner The International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA) convened the 18th International Conference on Harmful Algae (ICHA 18), held in Nantes, France, from 21th to 26th October 2018. The ISSHA Council had two opportunistic meetings: the first before the conference on Sunday 21 Esther Garcés (Spain) Ian Jenkinson (China, France) Ingrid Sassenhagen (France, Germany) Keith Davidson (United Kingdom) Henrik Enevoldsen (Denmark) Luis Mafra (Brazil) Shauna Murray (Australia) Marta Estrada (Spain) Philipp Hess (France) Ichiro Imai (Japan) Dedmer B. Van de Wall (Netherlands) Steff logic interactions, chemical ecology and microalgal physiology. Marc Long (Best Oral Presentation) Northeast Fisheries Science Center, United States) in Milford Connecticut, studying phytoplankton physiology with Dr. Gary H. Wikfors. The work presented at ICHA2018 was part of his Ph.D. research, r She continued her research in toxicology with a thesis project on the development of new cell models of the intestinal barrier (tri-culture and co-culture with epithelial cells, goblet cells and glial enteric cells), a tool for a best evaluation of toxicity of 6 phycotoxins. This thesis is supervise Anna Godhe - In Memoriam Anna Godhe passed away on April 4th 2019 after a strenuous fight with cancer. Her untimely passing represents a big loss for the scientific community. We all remember her true passion for research, her important contributions to marine phytoplankton ecology and her open mind Forthcoming events ICHA 2020 19th ICHA October 11-16, 2020. La Paz, B.C.S. Mexico Registration will open during 2019. ISSHA members can register at special rates! Participants wishing to receive the ISSHA member rate for conference registration must join ISSHA or renew their memberships prior to t Eds-in-chief Beatriz Reguera, IEO, Vigo, Spain Eilen Bresnan, MARLAB, Marine Scotland Science, UK Regional Editors Caribbean: Ernesto Mancera jemancerap@unal.edu.co Europe: Philip Hess Philipp.Hess@ifremer.fr Mediterranean Sea: Adriana Zingone zingone@szn.it India: K.B. Padmakumar kbpadmakumar@g