Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 63 - December 2019 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab Harmful Algal Blooms in a Changing Climate In September 2019 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approved and accepted the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) at its 51st Session [1]. This report was notable for many reasons, but of particular note was that an IPCC report identified increased frequency in coastal areas since the 1980s of harmful algal blooms, attributed to both climatic and non-climatic drivers, with high confidence, meaning that experts agreed that there was medium to high agreement and robust evidence for this statement. In contrast the last major IPCC report published in 2014 (AR5 Chapters 5-6), just 5 years ago, reported limited evidence and low confidence for future climate change effects on HABs. In the most recent report there was also high confidence that trends in HABs were associated with ocean warming, marine heatwaves, oxygen loss, eutrophication and pollution, and high confidence that these events have had negative impacts on food security, tourism, local economies, and human health. Vulnerability to HAB events was linked to areas without sustained monitoring programs and early warning systems (medium confidence). For some this statement from the IPCC may seem premature given that linking climate change and HABs has previously been identified as a formidable predictive challenge [2], and there are nearly as many questions as answers regarding climate interactions with HAB events [3,4]. Despite these questions the overall scientific consensus has shifted rapidly in the last 5-10 years. The SROCC report cites several specific examples of climate-induced changes in HAB events, including range expansion of warm-water organisms such as Gambierdiscus, contraction of cold-water species, detection of novel phycotoxins and toxic species, and re- gional increases in frequency and intensity of toxic blooms, such as the Pseudonitzschia australis event in the eastern Pacific during 2015 and the record HAB events in Chile during 2016 caused by Pseudochattonella cf. verruculosa and Alexandrium catenella. Further evidence was documented from experimental studies linking multiple drivers to enhanced HAB activity, such as the synergistic effects of increasing CO2 and temperature. It is important to note that the SROCC report clearly identified the combined effects of both climate change (e.g. rising temperatures, decreasing pH) and global change attributed to human activity (e.g. eutrophication and pollution) as important drivers. SROCC identified the greatest risk for estuarine organisms because HABs are stimulated by riverine nutrient loads and exacerbated by warming and lower dissolved oxygen and pH associated with these environments. This inevitably leads to HAB-related risks for coastal biodiversity and ecosystem services. SROCC also noted that there is considerable variability in HAB responses at a local and regional scale. It was suggested that regional variations could be explained by spatial differences in climate drivers such as temperature, water column stratification, ocean acidification, precipitation and extreme weather events, as well as by non-climatic drivers such as eutrophication and pollution. SROCC makes several key points that provide a roadmap for ongoing efforts. First, HAB occurrence, toxicity, and risk are projected to increase with warming and rising CO2. Second, increasing likelihood of occurrences of HABs under climate change elevates associated risks to fisheries, aquaculture and tourism as well as public health. Third, there is limited evidence that reContinued on page 4 Content IPHAB - GLOBAL HAB Priorities HABs at IPCC . .................................... 1 New Initiative on Fish-Killing HABs . ........................... 2 Evaluating the cost of HABs ........ 3 Fish killers and benthic HABs Hypoxia-induced fish mortality in Penang, Malaysia ........................ 5 Chattonella antiqua and Ostreopsis in Alexandria, Egypt ............ 6 Gambierdiscus excentricus and Ostreopsis lenticularis in Cape Verde Archipelago . ......... 8 Cyanobacteria Microcystis in Saladito River, southern Cuba ................................... 10 Red Tides reports Citizen Science Oceanography in the Strait of Georgia, Canada . 12 Multicoloured algal blooms in the NW Adriatic in 2018 . ........ 14 Prorocentrum triestinum in the Hossegor Marine Lake (Fr.) ......... 16 Obituary Professor Tufan Koray ................... 17 HAB Meetings and Networking ICES 2019 Annual Science Conference ......................... 17 11th Irish Shellfish Safety WS ..... 18 33th ASPAB meeting, New Zealand ...................................... 20 Forthcoming events ICHA 2020 . ......................................... 21 Modelling and Prediction of HABs, Scotland . ........................... 21 DINO 12 in the Canary Islands . . 22 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 63 - December 2019 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab Harmful Algal Blooms in a Changing Climate In September 2019 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approved and accepted the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere New Initiative on Fish-Killing Algal Blooms An Advanced International Colloquium and Technical Workshop on Fish-Killing HABs under the auspices of IOC-IPHAB and GlobalHAB, and with the support of the government of Chile through CORFO and collaboration of CREAN-IFOP, was held in Puerto Varas, Chile, IOC-SCOR GlobalHAB Workshop: Evaluating, Reducing and Mitigating the Cost of Harmful Algal Blooms: a Compendium of Case Studies Over the last two decades, several reports have compiled what is known about the economic impacts of harmful algal blooms (HABs) [1-4]. Although these reports attempted to Several examples of HAB-related losses and loss mitigation were discussed at the workshop in detail. A HAB incident in northern Norway alone resulted in the loss of 14 thousand tons of Atlantic salmon in May 2019, resulting in a total loss of at least 330 million USD, including insured losses of 45 Massive fish mortality in Teluk Bahang, Penang, Malaysia caused by a hypoxia-inducing algal bloom Fish kill events due to algal blooms have been increased dramatically over the past decades. Several massive fish kill events have been reported in Malaysia [1-5]. Among the incidents reported, some are Blooms of the potentially harmful raphidophyte Chattonella antiqua and the occurrence of the epiphytic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis cf. ovata in the coastal waters of Alexandria, Egypt coastal marine areas. Blooms of this genus are usually accompanied by goldenbrown seawater discoloration due to their Table 1. Seawater physical and chemical parameters during the summer 2019 Chattonella bloom mg O2/L Nutrient concentration μM C Salinit y pH DO COD PO4 SiO4 NO2 NO3 NH4 35.00 17.8 8.64 6.3 22.5 13.35 58 12.6 20.6 45.2 TN SiO4 PO4 Table 2. Physical and chemical properties of First records of Gambierdiscus excentricus and Ostreopsis lenticularis in the Cape Verde Archipelago (Macaronesia, Central Eastern Atlanctic) Fig. 1. Map of Cape Verde archipelago (Macaronesia Region). Harmful algal blooms (HAB) species frequently recorded in tropical latitudes are apparently incr Fig. 3. Gambierdiscus excentricus. Scanning electron micrographs, apical and ventral views mostly on the left side of the cell. The second apical plate (2) was narrow and elongated, and located below the APC, extending dorsally to the Po plate, and reaching about the mid-position of the 3 plate. Pl Microcystis bloom in Saladito river, central-southern Cuba Fig. 1. Map showing the cyanobacterial bloom area in Saladito River, central-southern Cuba. Water blooms or simply blooms in freshwater reservoirs are mass accumulations of planktonic microalgae or cyanobacteria. Water blooms (Wasserblüte) the center of the colony; a few solitary cells may appear in the mucilage. In our populations the typical solitary cells in mucilage were not observed, neither the concentrically lamellated margins. It is possible that the Cuban specimens could be identified as M. panniformis or M. novacekii, but fu Citizen Science Oceanography in the Strait of Georgia, Canada an overview of five years of operations The Citizen Science Oceanography Program for the coastal waters of British Columbia (BC), Canada was proposed by Dr. Eddy Carmack, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Carmack envisioned a mosquito f harm (e.g. fish kills, shellfish poisoning) at very low concentrations. In the latter case, they are still called blooms because of their effects. These types of blooms can be invisible to the naked eye and only in-situ sampling can detect them. During five years of observations, the heaviest blooms Multicoloured algal blooms in the NW Adriatic during 2018 The northern Adriatic is characterized by shallow waters (mean depth about 35 m), a weak bathymetric gradient along the main axis and a high riverine input on the western side, affecting both the circulation regime and the trophic status. As Fig. 4. A bloom of an unidentified gymnodinioid caused a brown-greenish discoloration. Fig. 6. Ostreopsis cf. ovata bloom causing bleaching of macroalgal thalli. Fig. 5. Green colored waters from a mixed bloom of diatoms and Prorocentrum cordatum. Fig. 7. Field sample showing Takayama tasmanica a A bloom of Prorocentrum triestinum in the Hossegor Marine Lake (France) Phytoplankton communities in the Hossegor marine lake (Southern French Atlantic coast, Fig. 1) have been monthly monitored since 1997 to protect human health (REPHY network: monitoring of toxin producing species which may contam The ICES Annual Science Conference 2019 The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) annual science conference took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, 9-12th Sept 2019 with 738 participants from 38 countries attending. The conference opened with a lively panel discussion around sustaina 11th Irish Shellfish Safety Workshop At the 11th Shellfish Safety Workshop held in the Radisson Blu Hotel Athlone, Ireland, Joe Silke, Director of Marine Environment and Food Safety Services at the Marine Institute said, Irelands Shellfish Safety Monitoring Programme ensures that shellfish placed on Fig. 2. Oyster Farm. Photo courtesy of Fionn OFearghail, Marine Institute Marine Institute The Marine Institute is the state agency responsible for marine research, technology development and innovation in Ireland. The Marine Institute provides government, public agencies and the maritime industry The 33rd annual meeting of the Australasian Society for Phycology and Aquatic Botany (ASPAB) The 33rd annual ASPAB meeting was held at NIWAs Greta Point site in Wellington, New Zealand on 11-13 November 2019. This year most presentations were on macroalgae although in the past microalgae and HABs ha Forthcoming events Call for abstracts - ICHA 2020 The Organizing Committee is pleased to announce the call for abstracts and pre-registration for the 19th International Conference on Harmful Algal Blooms to be held from the 11th to the 16th of October 2020 in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. La 12th International Conference on Modern and Fossil Dinoflagellates The Canarian HABs Observatory (OCH) hosts the 12th edition of the International Conference on Modern and Fossil Dinoflagellates (DINO12), to be held from 13th to 17th July 2020 at the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Canteras beach, L