NOAA announced that it is committing $88,000 in grant and event response funding for Washington state to monitor and analyze an unusually large bloom of toxic algae off its coast.
During large blooms such as this, the algae, Pseudo-nitzschia, can produce a potent toxin that can be harmful to people, fish, and marine mammals. So far this year, the presence of the toxin in Washington state water’s has resulted in fishery closures, which can have tremendous economic and ecological effects. In May, the razor clam fishery closed resulting in an estimated $9.2 million in lost income. The state’s commercial crab fishery, worth roughly $84 million annually, has also been affected…
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