Congress takes aim at harmful algae blooms like Florida’s red tides

Florida is facing one of the worst red tide outbreaks in more than a decade. The toxic algae have been plaguing both coasts in the state for the past 10 months, and they show no sign of going away. Reports of dead fish and mammals washing ashore and horrible stenches of rotting sea life are driving many visitors away from Florida, hurting the state’s economy.

Neurotoxins produced by algae have also contaminated Dungeness crabs and other shellfish in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries & Coast Guard, said at an Aug. 28 hearing. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) noted that “algae blooms are turning hundreds of Wisconsin’s sparkling blue lakes and rivers into green pea soup” and that fish kills are getting worse in Green Bay.

Climate change is contributing to the algal blooms as waters warm and more frequent, heavy rainfall flushes nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural land into waterways. Algal blooms kill other organisms by consuming oxygen in the water as well as by producing neurotoxins.

Senators at the hearing stressed the need for real-time monitoring of harmful algae to predict when and where future blooms will occur. They called for an early-warning system that can alert beachgoers, boaters, anglers, and others to avoid areas with impending algal blooms. Witnesses provided examples of sensors that can determine which harmful algal species are present in a water sample and at what concentrations.

One instrument, developed at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, uses an automated, underwater microscope and flow cytometer, along with a laser-based detector, to obtain images of phytoplankton cells in water. Another technology, developed at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, uses a robotic fluidic system to collect water samples and perform genetic testing on them.

Senators urged the House of Representatives to pass the Harmful Algal Bloom & Hypoxia Research & Control Amendments Act of 2017, which the Senate passed last year. The bill authorizes the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to receive $110 million over fiscal 2019–23 to mitigate harmful algal blooms through a coordinated national effort with states, tribes, and local governments.