The 11th EASTHAB Symposium and 4th Philippine HAB Conference The 11th EASTHAB Symposium and 4th Philippine HAB Conference were held back-to-back from December 11 13, 2019 at the Microtel Hotel, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, the Philippines. The theme was Advances in Harmful Algal Bloom Research, Monitoring and Management. This served as a transdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners, educators, managers, policy makers and fisherfolk to present and discuss the recent trends, innovations and challenges in relation to HABs. This event brought together not just scientists from East and Southeast Asia, but also resource managers, policy-makers and communities in the Philippines to exchange and share their experiences on HAB occurrences, monitoring and management. There was a total number of 134 participants with 10 coming from Japan, 18 from Korea, 11 from China, 3 from Malaysia, 3 from Indonesia, 2 from Vietnam, 1 each from Thailand and Singapore, and 85 from the host country, the Philippines (Fig. 1). The conference was opened by the local government and the head of the Philippine science agency, acknowledging the significant impacts of HABs and the importance of research, monitoring and management efforts. This was followed by Dr. Rhodora Azanza setting the context for the conference and Dr. Yasuwo Fukuyo giving a historical perspective on HAB research in the country and the region as well as the outcomes of strong collaborations across countries and disciplines. Throughout the three days, there were 58 oral presentations and 24 poster presentations spread through 8 sessions: i) Recent HAB Research and Development Initiatives in the Philippines; ii) Managing HABs; iii) HAB Dynamics; iv) HAB Monitoring Tools and Approaches; v) New HAB Species from East Asia; vi) Country Reports; vii) Current HAB Monitoring and Research; and viii) the Community for Alliance for the Sustainability of our Threatened Seas (COASTS) special session. On the first day, the Director for the Marine Resources Research Division of the Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Agricul18 ture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOSTPCAARRD), Dr. Mari-Ann Acedera shared the Philippine accomplishments and roadmap for HAB research in her plenary talk. Dr. Ma. Lourdes San DiegoMcGlone highlighted the link between HABs and eutrophication in relation to potential management measures particularly for Philippine mariculture areas. This session on Managing Harmful Algal Blooms also showcased a diversity of topics from use of advanced technologies such as drones to community participation in monitoring and management. The COASTS special session uniquely allowed fisherfolk from three HAB-affected sites to present their own perspective on the impact of HABs and their capacity to participate in studies and monitoring. On the second day, the HAB Dynamics session was opened by Dr. Ichiro Imai where he shared potential preventive strategies against fish-killing raphidophytes, while Dr. Aletta Yñiguez provided a meta-analysis of what is known in relation to knowledge gaps in Pyrodinium bahamense bloom dynamics. There were two parallel sessions on HAB dynamics with one focused on molecular studies and the other on larger ecosystem aspects. The last session for the day was on HAB Monitoring Tools and Approaches. Dr. Rhodora Azanza reviewed the monitoring tools and approaches from the common HAB-causative organisms in East Asia. Within this session, studies using traditional microscopy, metagenomics, biochemical profiling, remote sensing and modeling were presented. On the last day, Dr. Douding Lu discussed different HABs from China and the seas nearby from pelagic and benthic sources, as well as observations on range expansions by some species such as Margalefidinium polykrikoides. He was followed by Dr. Mitsunori Iwataki illustrating the morphology and phylogeny of Azadinium and Amphidoma from Japan in the session on New HAB Species from East Asia. Studies on benthic and unarmored dinoflagellates were highlighted in this session. Dr. Goh Onit- suka started off the Country Reports on HABs, presenting the case of Karenia mikimotoi, the species with the highest number of blooms in the past 3 years in Japan. Together with Chattonella spp., this species has caused severe damage to farmed fish. Japan has also experienced an increase in shellfish bans due to Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). For South Korea, Dr. Weol-ae Lim explained the new HAB monitoring system and forecast model which included voluntary participation by aquaculture farmers. She also reported results about the Margalefidinium blooms in 2019, and the monitoring activities for Alexandrium including the use of qPCR. Dr. Ren-Cheng Yu (China) showed HAB distribution patterns in mainland China, ranging from brown tides in the Bohai Sea, green tides in the Yellow Sea, red tides of dinoflagellates in the East China Sea, red tides of Phaeocystis in the South China Sea, and various toxic algal blooms along the coast. Ms. Elsa Furio reported a decline in PSP cases in the Philippines, although a few cases were recorded, from newly affected areas. She also discussed HABs due to Alexandrium spp., Prorocentrum minimum, Noctiluca scintillans and Chattonella subsalsa. The last session was on Current HAB Monitoring and Research. Plenary speaker Dr. Songhui Lu talked about mechanisms of brown tides occurrence in China and their effects. This session was split into two: one dealing with molecular studies and the other with ecosystem scale processes. The IOC WESTPAC HAB group also had the opportunity to meet on the 12th of December, while the EASTHAB Scientific Steering committee met on the 13th of December. The next EASTHAB Symposium will be held in the Republic of South Korea tentatively in late November 2021. The Book of Abstracts for this event can be downloaded from: https://www. philhabs.net/ Authors Aletta T. Yñiguez, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines Rhodora V. Azanza, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines Email corresponding author: atyniguez@msi.upd.edu.ph HARMFUL ALGAE NEWS NO. 64 / 2020 Harmful Algae News An IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Blooms No. 64 - June 2020 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab The IOC Taxonomic Reference List of Harmful Microalgae The creation of the IOC Taxonomic Reference List of Harmful Microalgae was first discussed 23 years ago at the Fourth Session of the ever the information presented in publications is not always easy to interpret. Toxic blooms often contain several species and studies on individual species are therefore required to determine the species responsible for the toxin production. In addition, species are sometimes difficult to identify considered this to be identical to the previously described P. mexicanum [9]. This statement makes little sense, and Loeblich et al in fact do not mention P. mexicanum in their article. Faust [8] illustrated material which resembled P. rhathymum using the radical arrangement of some of the trichocys Massive salmon mortalities during a Chrysochromulina leadbeateri bloom in Northern Norway From mid May to mid June 2019, fish farmers along the coast of Nordland and Troms, northern Norway, experienced sudden mortalities of caged salmon [1] (Fig. 1). These mortalities were assumed to be due to a blo Fish kill in numbers [2] 13 000 ton fish 7.5 mill salmon 80 mill EUR 14 companies Fig. 2. Map of Norway showing the area where the Chrysochromulina leadbeateri bloom occurred causing massive fish kills in May-June 2019 References 1. Fiskeridirektoratet 2019. https:// www.fiskeridir.no/Akvakult Mass mortality of marine invertebrates associated with the presence of yessotoxins in northern Chile Fig. 1. Map of the study area showing A) Chilean coast; B) Pabellón de Pica, Tarapacá Region C) Bahía Inglesa, Atacama Region; D) Puerto Aldea, Coquimbo Region During the austral summer of 2019, ma research is needed to determine the mechanism of action and the toxin effects on tissues and cells of the main affected species. Finally, there is a need to establish an educational plan to protect the public and avoid the consumption and commercialization of potentially toxic marine invertebrates. First Report of Heterocapsa minima (Dinophyceae) from Aotearoa/ New Zealand Small planktonic armoured dinoflagellates within the genus Heterocapsa are currently represented by 20 species with some having a world-wide distribution [1-2]. Blooms of some Heterocapsa species have been associated with fi Fig. 2. Maximum likelihood (ML) molecular phylogenetic tree of Heterocapsa minima and H. steinii strains isolated from coastal areas of New Zealand based on the LSU rDNA D1/ D2 sequences (20 sequences, 700 positions). The alignment site corresponded to the 69768 bp site of a sequence from H. steinii Yellow-green tides could become a recurrent event along the Ligurian coast (Italy) Fig. 1. A) Sestri Levante and Baia del Silenzio bay, characterized by shallow water and mixed rocky-sandy seabed containing the macrophyte, Posidonia oceanica (dark grey) and carpet-like matte (light grey) habitat. B First report of a high biomass bloom of Peridinium quadridentatum (F. Stein) Gert Hansen from the tropical Cochin estuary SW coast of India Fig. 1. Map showing the area of P. quadridentatum bloom in Cochin estuary, southwest coast of India Peridinium quadridentatum (F. Stein) Gert Hansen is a cos Table 1. Physico-chemical parameters of P. quadridentatum bloom area in Cochin Estuary Parameters Water Temperature (oC) Salinity (psu) Dissolved Oxygen (ml L-1) Nitrate (μmol L-1) Silicate (μmol L-1) Phosphate (μmol L-1) Chlorophyll a (mg m-3) 28 20 2.01 10.6 23.3 1.3 27.5 higher turbidity, lowe Are mesophotic seamounts reservoirs for potentially toxic dinoflagellates associated with Ciguatera poisoning? A case study from the SW Indian ocean (expédition La Pérouse, 2019) Fig. 1. Location map of La Pérouse seamount off La Réunion. In the western Indian Ocean, a Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CF Using Machine Learning to Observe Abundance Patterns of the Dino flagellate Noctiluca scintillans in the Western English Channel Noctiluca scintillans is a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) species with a wide geographic distribution. It frequently blooms and causes negative impacts on marine ecosystems [1] References 1. Sarma VVSS et al 2019. Mar Pollut Bull 138: 428-436 2. Faust MA & RA Gulledge 2002. Contributions for the US National Herbarium 42: 1-144 3. Graham MD et al 2018. Limnol Oceanogr-Meth 16: 669-679 Author Christian Bamber, The Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB International validation and recognition of method for paralytic shellfish toxins in bivalve molluscs Food safety scientists from Cefas (UK) and Cawthron Institute (New Zealand) have led an international study over the past four years to gain international recognition for a new method to quantify pa Aotearoa/New Zealands nationally significant Cawthron Institute Culture Collection of Microalgae (CICCM) The CICCM is critical to international research projects and the 500 isolates of microalgae and cyanobacteria in the collection have been sourced from oceans, lakes and rivers in New Zealand, the The 11th EASTHAB Symposium and 4th Philippine HAB Conference The 11th EASTHAB Symposium and 4th Philippine HAB Conference were held back-to-back from December 11 13, 2019 at the Microtel Hotel, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, the Philippines. The theme was Advances in Harmful Algal Bloom Research, Monito Fig. 1. Participants in the 11th EASTHAB Symposium/4th Philippine HAB Conference Fig. 2. Department of Science and Technology secretary Fortunato dela Peña with the keynote, plenary speakers and local organizing committee leads. Left to right: Dr. Ichiro Imai, representative of the Vice Mayor of Pu The ICES-IOC Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom Dynamics 2020 Meeting The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) have collaborated closely for 26 years, stimulating research on HAB population dynamics and monit Fig. 2. Shared day between ICES-IOC WGHABD, ICES-IOC WGBOSV and ICES WGITMO ences using molecular methods as well as results from studies in Arctic areas. These studies presented data on HAB and invasive non-native species present in Arctic waters. A USA study focused on the distribution, community Typical benthic habitat with macroalgae and limestone rubble observed at ~ 60m depth on La Pérouse seamount, Indian Ocean (Photo courtesy of L. Ballesta). Eds-in-chief Beatriz Reguera, IEO, Vigo, Spain Eilen Bresnan, Marine Scotland, UK Regional Editors Caribbean: Ernesto Mancera jemancerap@unal.e