Current Status of 2009
New England Red Tide
September 21, 2009
In eastern Maine, the state reduced the size of the PSP closure area on September 18 due to PSP toxins returning to safe levels in some areas. Much of coastal Maine remains closed to harvesting of shellfish.
In Massachusetts, areas from Marshfield to Hull were reopened on September 4 to the harvesting of shellfish, except carnivorous snails and whole sea scallops
In New Hampshire, Atlantic waters are now open to shellfish harvesting.
Click on the state name for up to date information on shellfish closures. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and New York
In April 2009, NOAA-supported scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) forecasted a moderately large New England Red Tide, or Alexandrium bloom, in the Gulf of Maine. The 2009 bloom event is expected be less extensive than the major regional bloom of 2008, but still has the potential to be more severe than the large event in 2006. The 2009 forecast was based on runs of a biological-physical model, developed with ECOHAB and MERHAB support, using weather scenarios typical of the last few years. A critical component of the model is a map of Alexandrium “resting” cysts on the seafloor, conducted every fall, as an indicator of bloom potential the next spring. The cysts of Alexandrium act as seeds and germinate every spring when conditions are right. The numbers of cysts last fall were lower than before the major event in 2008, but still higher than in 2006. The extent to which the bloom will make landfall and affect coastal resources will largely depend on the wind patterns in May, June, and July.
Alexandrium blooms are one of several algal bloom types often called "red tides," but more correctly referred to as Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Alexandrium produces a potent toxin that accumulates in shellfish and can cause illness in humans who eat contaminated shellfish. States have well-established, rigorous shellfish monitoring programs to protect human health, so consumers are assured that commercially available shellfish are safe for consumption.
For more on the 2009 forecast, see the WHOI press release.
In late June, tumultuous weather and significant northeast winds along the coast of Maine concentrated toxic Alexandrium cells inshore, resulting in a shutdown of virtually all shellfish beds in coastal Maine in early July due to paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins. Only a few very small areas were not affected.
On July 10, researchers conducting an ECOHAB GOMTOX mooring recovery and redeployment effort, spotted visible patches of Alexandrium off Portsmouth, NH (blooms of this species are rarely concentrated enough to be visible). Researchers from WHOI quickly took action, with emergency response funding from NOS and CSCOR HAB Event Response, to survey the waters in the Gulf of Maine.
For more on current status, cruise observations, and maps of Alexandrium abundance and closure areas, visit WHOI’s Northeast PSP Page.
