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Economic Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)
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Economic effects of HABs in the U.S. are at least $82 million/year *
Commercial Fisheries Impacts:
$38
million/year
Public Health Costs of Illnesses:
$37 million/year
Recreation and Tourism Impacts:
$4 million/year
Coastal Monitoring & Management:
$3
million/year
* Hoagland and Scatasta (2006). Based on subset of outbreaks in 1987-2000.
Some harmful algae produce potent toxins which cause illness or death in humans and other organisms, including endangered species. Other harmful algae are non-toxic to humans and wildlife but degrade ecosystems by forming such large blooms that they can adversely affect corals, seagrasses, and organisms living on the sea-bottom. Human health and ecosystem impacts of HABs and management responses to lessen those impacts can in turn have significant economic and sociocultural consequences.
Coastal HAB events have been estimated to result in economic impacts in the U.S. of at least $82 million/year with the majority of impacts in the public health and commercial fisheries sectors (Hoagland and Scatasta 2006). This estimate is conservative due in part to a lack of documentation on individual events, unquantified economic effects of environmental impacts, and a lack of documentation of sociocultural impacts (such as degradation of cultural practices and values, increased reliance on social services, loss of recreational opportunities, and shifts in livelihoods). Moreover, unreported illnesses, reductions in property values, lost seafood sales due to unfounded consumer fears (the “halo effect”), and lost revenue from some untapped fisheries are just a few examples of economic costs not accounted for in this estimate. Estimates of impacts from individual events (see map below) can exceed the annual average, further highlighting how this estimate may be too conservative.
Examples of Economic Impacts Associated with Recent Events
Mouseover the numbered states on the map to get information on HAB events
(text will appear below map)
Impacts of New England Red Tide on Commercial Fisheries:
$11 million in 2005
In 2005, an historic Alexandrium fundyense bloom (also called red tide) in New England resulted in extensive and, in some locations, unprecedented closures of shellfish harvesting to prevent paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in human consumers. A preliminary estimate of the economic impact due to lost shellfish sales in Massachusetts and Maine as a result of imposed closures is approximately $11 million (NOAA Economic Statistics Report). Furthermore, offshore surfclam, ocean quahog, and roe-on sea scallop fisheries that are indefinitely closed due to shellfish toxicity likely result in millions of dollars of lost revenue.
Karenia brevis Impacts on Tourism in Florida:
possibly as high as $240 million in 2005
An unusually large and persistent bloom in 2005 of the Florida HAB species, Karenia brevis (also called red tide), resulted in massive fish kills, unusual mortalities of protected species (such as manatees, dolphins, and sea turtles), reports of human respiratory irritation in residents and beach-goers, and mass mortalities of bottom-dwelling organisms (due to low oxygen) in over 2000 square miles of sea-bottom west of central Florida. The magnitude of those impacts has not yet been documented but based on theorized tourism losses, the Convention and Visitors Bureau has cited potential losses up to $240 million in the Tampa Bay area alone.
Impacts of Karenia brevis in Galveston, Texas:
$10 million in 2000
In summer of 2000, a Karenia brevis outbreak and associated fish kills were reported in Texas coastal waters. The fish kills persisted in many areas through November. Most Texas coastal waters were closed to shellfish harvesting until the end of November to protect human consumers from Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning (NSP). Some areas remained closed until January 2001. A case study of the 2000 red tide in Texas estimated that economic impacts were at least $9.9 million in Galveston county alone due to commercial oyster fishery closures, lost tourism, and costs of beach cleanup (Evans and Jones 2001).
Impacts on commercial, subsistence, and recreational fisheries in the Pacific Northwest:
$10-12 million in 2002/03
In 2002-03, high levels of domoic acid in razor clams along the Pacific Coast resulted in a season long closure of the fishery in Washington to protect human consumers from Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP). In addition, high toxin levels caused the first commercial Dungeness crab fishery closure due to algal toxins since 1991. This event resulted in at least $10-12 million in lost revenue. The oyster, Dungeness crab, and razor clam fisheries in Washington are cumulatively valued at $72 million/year for the local economies and are important for commerce, recreation, and the culture of local coastal tribes.
Impacts of Macroalgae in Maui, HI:
$20 million/year
Macroalgal blooms, which adversely impact coral reefs and local aesthetics, are a recurring problem along the Kihei coast in Maui. These blooms potentially cost Hawaii more than $20 million in lost revenue each year, due to reductions in real estate value and hotel business as well as increased clean-up costs (NOAA Economic Statistics Report). Van Beukering and Cesar (2004) estimated that continued algal blooms could result in additional losses of $16 million annually over the next several decades.
What is NOAA Doing?
- NOAA, through extramural funding (ECOHAB, MERHAB, and CSCOR Event Response ) and intramural research programs, is working to minimize public health, sociocultural, and economic impacts by improving prediction and monitoring, developing methods of control, and improving public understanding.
- NOAA is also funding research to assess economic impacts at local scales and to assess the costs and benefits of mitigation strategies, which were both identified by HARRNESSand HARR-HD(also see the NOAA Human Dimensions web page) as research needs to improve focus and cost-effectiveness of mitigation strategies.
References
Anderson DM, Hoagland P, Kaoru Y, White AW. 2000. Estimated Annual Economic Impacts from Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) in the United States, Technical Report WHOI-2000-11 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, Mass.
Anderson DA, Keafer BA, McGillicuddy DJ, Mickelson MJ, Keay KE, Libby PS, Manning JP, Mayo CA, Whittaker DK, Hicky JM, He R, Lynch DR, Smith KW. 2005. Initial observations of the 2005 Alexandrium fundyense bloom in southern New England: General Patterns and Mechanisms. Deep-Sea Research II. 52: 2856-2876.
Ayers D, Reed H. 2004. Managing important recreational and commercial shellfish fisheries around harmful algal blooms In T.W. Droscher and D.A. Fraser (eds). Proceedings of the 2003 Georgia Basin/Puget Sound Research Conference. Session 4F. http://www.psat.wa.gov/Publications/03_proceedings/start.htm [February 2004]
Evans G, Jones L. 2001. Economic Impact of the 2000 Red Tide on Galveston County, Texas A Case Study. Final Report. TPWD No. 666226. Texas Parks and Wildlife.
HARRNESS. 2005. Harmful algal research and response: A national environmental science strategy: 2005-2015. Ramsdell JS, Anderson DM, Glibert PM, eds. Washington DC: Ecological Society of America.
HARR-HD. 2006. Bauer M., ed. Harmful Algal Research and Response: A Human Dimensions Strategy, National Office for Marine Biotoxins and Harmful Algal Blooms, Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA., 58 pp.
Hoagland P, Scatasta S. 2006. The economic effects of harmful algal blooms. In E Graneli and J Turner, eds., Ecology of Harmful Algae. Ecology Studies Series. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer-Verlag, Chap. 29.
NOAA Economic Statistics Report
Van Beukering P, Cesar H. 2004. Ecological Economic Modeling of Coral Reefs: Evaluating Tourist Overuse at Hanauma Bay and Algae Blooms at the Kihei Coast, Hawaii. Pacific Science, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 243-260.