The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)-supported interagency report, Harmful Algal Bloom Management and Response: Assessment and Plan, was released to Congress this week and aims to lessen harmful algal blooms (HABs) and HAB impacts by presenting a plan to improve management. The plan proposes a program focused on developing and implementing strategies for prevention, control, and mitigation of HABs, improving HAB event response nationally, and improving the access to and availability of core infrastructure. The report is the third of five mandated by Congress under the 2004 reauthorization of the federal Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA): http://www.cop.noaa.gov/stressors/extremeevents/hab/habhrca/). The report was written under the aegis of the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology’s Interagency Working Group on HABs, Hypoxia, and Human Health, with organizational and editorial support from NCCOS’s Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research. The HABHRCA report may be viewed at http://ocean.ceq.gov/about/docs/jsost_hab0908.pdf. The HAB Research, Development, Demonstration, and Technology Transfer National Workshop Report, on which the strategy is based, may be viewed at http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=15075. These reports present the first comprehensive plan specifically focused on developing and implementing a program to improve HAB management and response.
For more information, contact Quay Dortch at Quay.Dortch@noaa.gov.
