Huge Toxic Algal Bloom Shuts Down West Coast Fisheries. Commercial and recreational fisheries up and down the West Coast have been forced to close as a result of a massive toxic algal bloom, which scientists are describing as one of the largest in history. “We have received reports of this particular bloom causing problems as far south as Monterey Bay and we’ve heard from our colleagues in Homer, Alaska that they’re seeing these cells,” Vera Trainer, manager of the Marine Biotoxin Program at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, told ThinkProgress. “It’s geographically very widespread, more so than we’ve seen in the past.” The last time an algal bloom of comparative size occurred on the West Coast was in 1988. That bloom stretched from San Diego up to Washington. Algal blooms happen when microscopic marine algae — also known as phytoplankton — proliferate in huge numbers. This proliferation results in a buildup of toxins such as domoic acid, a powerful and fatal neurotoxin. High concentrations of algae — or domoic acid — aren’t uncommon, occurring in the Pacific primarily in the fall, when ocean temperatures tend to be at their warmest. But according to Dan Ayers, coastal shellfish manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, to see such an intense and extensive concentration of toxic algae in the late spring and summer months is more rare. “The thing that is so significant of this bloom is its timing,” Ayers told ThinkProgress. “In the past, these blooms have occurred in the fall just prior to change of ocean conditions to a winter regime.” Scientists are unsure exactly what is causing the historic bloom, though Trainer said that it is likely related to unusually warm ocean temperatures. “We’ve had an unusually warm and sunny spring, and that not only affects our land plants, but the sea plants,” she said. Scientists first noticed a patch of unusually warm water off the West Coast in the fall of 2013, and have since attributed everything from the California drought to the recent swarm of red crabs on California beaches to the so-called “blob.” Though the blob has since dissipated, ocean temperatures off the Pacific coast remain about 2° Celsius warmer than normal.

• published: 19 Jun 2015
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