Program Expansion

1. Monitoring Oregon’s Coastal Harmful Algae (MOCHA): A logistical approach to HAB event response. Z. Forster1, M. Hunter1, P.G. Strutton2, J.F. Tweddle2, A.M. Wood3, B. Peterson4, L. O’Higgins4 1Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2001 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR 97103, USA. 2College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 COAS Admin Bldg, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. 3Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. 4 NOAA Fisheries, Newport Research Station, 2115 SE Marine Science Dr, Newport, OR 97365, USA. BackgroundThe Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has routinely monitored nearshore waters along the Oregon coast for the presence of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) since 2005. Closures of shellfish harvest areas due to contamination by phycotoxins are frequent, and have a considerable economic impact on coastal communities. In 2003, ODFW estimated that the closure of the razor clam fishery at Clatsop beach alone cost the local communities $4.8 million. In order to mitigate such losses to coastal communities the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) awarded funding in 2007 to implement an integrated HAB monitoring and event response program for coastal Oregon. This new collaboration was dubbed MOCHA (Monitoring of Oregon’s Coastal Harmful Algae) and partners included Oregon State University (OSU), University of Oregon (UO), NOAA Newport Research Station and ODFW. ODFW was able to expand its nearshore sampling program and bridge a key data gap between Washington's Olympic Region Harmful Algal Bloom (ORHAB) monitoring program and California. This new partnership will play a vital role in fulfilling goals set forth by the West Coast Governors Agreement on Ocean Health and Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Monitoring. Program Expansion As part of the MOCHA project, ODFW hired a phytoplankton sampling coordinator as well as a seasonal sampling position in 2008. The sampling coordinator works collaboratively with current Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) agents as well as ODFW shellfish staff to collect and ship whole water and filtered water samples to the Astoria, Oregon laboratory. The coordinator also collaborates with NOAA and UO to ensure consistency in sample treatment and enumeration. The seasonal sampler assures consistent sampling from the south Oregon coast region as well as working with ODA, the regulatory body responsible for tissue toxin testing, to collect mussels and clams for toxin testing. With increased staffing, and collaboration with MOCHA partners as well as with ODA, ODFW was able to increase the number of nearshore sample sites from five to eleven and increase sample frequency to a weekly basis. This enhancement of more than doubling the number of sites sampled and halving the time period between sampling decreases the likelihood of missing a bloom. ODFW uses a list serve to distribute data and as an alert to any potential HABs. Since 2008, the listserve has been greatly expanded to include many more people from Federal and State agencies, private business, and resource users. ODFW has also been standardizing a sequence of response steps triggered when a HAB reaches “action levels” in the shore-side phytoplankton monitoring. Steps include; increased nearshore water analysis, the use of domoic acid (DA) field testing kits, increased tissue laboratory testing and increased alert notifications. ODFW has also participated in outreach and education opportunities including; mentoring for local high school and junior college students and leading field expeditions including a cruise at the PNW Biology Professors Conference. The partnership between ODFW and MOCHA has also provided education and information opportunities for staff through face to face talks with constituents both whether in the harvest area or at the lab. • Case Study • In April of 2009, while conducting routine phytoplankton cell counts from shore-side surf zone samples, ODFW staff noted elevated levels of the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia (P-n) along the Clatsop beaches. A time sequence of events follows: • April 25, Pseudo-nitzschia cell counts reach 90,000 cells/L along the Clatsop beaches. Notification was immediately sent out with information that included: cell counts, a coastal map of hot spots and bio-physical observations. • April 26, NOAA Pacific Northwest Fisheries Science Center (PNWFSC) requests samples for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) species identification. SEM species identification results indicated the presence of multiple species of P-n including P. Australlis which is known to produce DA. • April 27, Tissue toxin results released from ODA indicated an elevated level of DA in razor clams. Washington’s ORHAB program also reports “action levels” of P-n cells. • April 29, Northwest winds, an indicator of favorable upwelling conditions, alluded to the threat of a bloom, chains of 3-10 cells were common and cells appeared very healthy. The highest cell counts are now in Seaside (62,000 cells/liter). • May 6, P-n cell counts remained high although environmental drivers including south winds and warming nearshore temperatures seemed to favor down-welling conditions. P-n chains became less common and the bloom seems to show signs of increased stress. • May 8, ODFW staff collects and field tests a small sample of razor clams from the Seaside area using a Mercury Science trial DA SPOT pad detection kit. Test results from tissue collected from the tip of the neck, gills and foot indicate an increase in DA levels. ODFW staff consults Mercury Science to confirm results, a range of 4-14 ppm is agreed upon. • May 11, Routine ODA tissue toxin testing indicates 1.5 ppm and 1.9 ppm DA in two razor clam samples collected from Clatsop beach. • May 15, P-n cell counts (68,000 cells/L) comprised mainly of larger cells. • May 18, ODFW collects clams for field SPOT pad testing. Field test results again indicate elevated levels of DA in razor clams. The information is immediately disseminated to ODA via cell phone and another sample is sent in for non-routine HPLC analysis on razor clams for DA . • May 21, ODA releases results of 1.6 ppm a small decrease from the previous week. The fishery remains open and standard monitoring continues. Conclusion The expansion of ODFW’s nearshore sampling program has provided valuable early detection and event response information to the MOCHA collaborators. Previously an increase in DA in shellfish might have gone undetected for up to two weeks and although in the above example DA in razor clams never reached regulatory closure levels, the early detection system worked. Managers were able to disseminate the information and order more testing to assure that the harvested shellfish were safe for human consumption. As the MOCHA project continues to work to understand the dynamics and impacts of HABs along the Oregon coast, case studies such as the one above provide great insight into future HAB event response and mitigation. With increasing interest and demand for Oregon’s shellfish, resources managers are under increased pressure to mitigate any negative human health and socioeconomic impacts caused by HABs. Future proposed steps include creation of a central data distribution center for dissemination of cell count data and alert information, further calibration of field tests to be comparable with ODA test requirements and further collaboration with the west coast HAB community. Clatsop Beaches Cannon Beach Agate Beach Tillicum Beach North Spit Spot pad test results. Whiskey Run Bastendorff Beach Razor clamming on Clatsop Beach. Performing DA SPOT pad test. Photo Credit: Brian Bill, NOAA’s PNWFCS Pseudo-nitzschia Acknowledgments Tom Stewart, Mercury Science (www.mercuryscience.com), for providing the DA SPOT pad tests used in the case study. Brian Bill, NOAA’s PNWFSC, for his SEM identification of Pseudo-nitzschia cells. ODA for their continued sampling effort and partnership with ODFW. Marc Suddleson, NOAA-CSCOR, for his continued assistance and encouragement of the MOCHA project. Gold Beach