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 million USD, underinsured values and deductibles of 40 million USD, losses of future salmon sales at 160 million USD, cleanup costs at 30-40 million USD, and loss of taxes and unemployment benefits at 50 million USD. In Brittany, France, the Laboratoire dEconomie et de Management de Nantes-Atlantique (LEMNA), University of Nantes, is conducting a detailed estimation of the impacts of shellfish trade bans caused by HABs. Researchers at LEMNA are creating a database documenting these trade bans from 2004 through 2018 at shellfish harvesting areas in four French departments (Finistère, Morbihan, LoireAtlantique and Vendée). These four areas encompass about 700 shellfish farms representing 37,600 tonnes of products with an estimated value €141 million, i.e. 20% of the national shellfish harvest. Finally, breakout groups discussed strategies for mitigation including the value of information from better or more refined forecasts. Questions addressed included: Can contingency planning reduce loss? How do we open areas more quickly, how do we make closures shorter, and what is the value of information from better forecasts? What is the cost benefit analysis of mon- itoring programs? How much should be spent on monitoring? For insurance purposes, how do we reduce the cost of HABs? The huge HAB-related losses to industry, consumers and governments illustrate the need for insurers, aquaculturists, public health professionals, economists, and HAB scientists to work together to estimate the cost of HAB events relative to the costs of mitigation and management. Studies of economic and social losses and their impacts need to be planned and teams need to be formed prior to HAB events to ensure that they are comprehensively studied. Toward this goal, the workshop further helped to establish greater connections between economists, industry scientists, and HAB researchers. Participants plan to refine and publish case studies to help guide future research and management priorities. A series of white papers are being prepared to document the workshop goals, the five case study examples, and summary recommendations for the future. These white papers will be published on the GlobalHAB and PICES websites. A summary of this work will be published in a peer-reviewed paper, providing several examples that can be used to steer future studies on the economic impact of HABs. The workshop was co-sponsored by GlobalHAB and PICES with the support of the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR), the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae (ISSHA), Northwest Pacific Action Plan Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre (NOWPAP CEARAC), Greig Seafood Ltd., the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and AXA XL Reinsurance. es. SROCC argues that there is clear consensus for the former, and that the latter, combined with a renewed emphasis on documenting the efficacy of mitigation strategies, would increase our ability to predict how HABs will respond to climate change and to respond appropriately. As has been stated numerous times in the past we require a renewed commitment to global observation systems through efforts such as the Global Ocean Observing System and GlobalHAB so as to quantitatively monitor the multiple interacting factors shaping our oceans future [2-5]. References 1. IPCC 2019. SROCC Report https://www. ipcc.ch/srocc/ 2. Hallegraeff GM 2010. J Phycol 46(2): 220-235 3. Wells ML et al 2015. Harmful Algae 49: 68-93 4. Wells ML et al (in press). Harmful Algae p.101632 5. Anderson DM et al 2012. Annu Rev Mar Sci: 143-176 References 1. Anderson DM et al, 2000. WHOI-2000-11 Technical Report, 96 pp 2. Hoagland P et al 2006. In: Granéli E & Turner JT (eds) Ecology of Harmful Algae. Ecological Studies (Analysis and Synthesis), vol 189. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 3. Huppert DD & Trainer VL 2014. In: Trainer VL & Yoshida T. Proc WS Economic impacts of harmful algal blooms on fisheries and aquaculture. PICES Sci. Report No 47, PICES, Sidney, BC Canada, pp 59-71 4. Sanseverino I et al 2006. JRC Technical Report. EUR 27905 EN, doi:10.2788/66047. Authors Vera L Trainer, NOAA Fisheries, Seattle, WA 98112 USA Keith Davidson, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban PA37 1QA, UK Kazumi Wakita, Tokai University, Shizuoka 424-8610 Japan Elisa Berdalet, Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), 08003 Barcelona, Spain Marc Suddleso, NOAA NCCOS, Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA Geir Myre, XL Catlin Norway, AXA XL Reinsurance, 5004 Bergen, Norway Dean Trethewey, Greig Seafood BC Ltd., Campbell River, BC V9W 5P7, Canada Continued from page 1 duction of non-climatic anthropogenic stressors can reduce the risk of HABs without also mitigating climate change. Finally, risks will be greatest in poorly monitored areas, and poleward distributional shifts of HAB organisms may exacerbate our ability to monitor HAB organisms and impacts. Wells et al [3] identified two central goals to improve our understanding of HABs and climate change. First, to obtain compelling evidence that climate change has altered HAB distribution, prevalence, and character. Second, to develop the theoretical, experimental, and empirical evidence for these chang4 Author Raphael Kudela, Ocean Sciences Department, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, USA E-mail: Kudela@ucsc.edu HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 63 / 2019 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