Over the last several decades, the United States has experienced an escalating and worrisome trend in the incidence of problems associated with harmful and toxic algae (commonly called "red tides"). Formerly only a few regions were affected, but now virtually every coastal state is threatened, in many cases over large geographic areas and by more than one harmful or toxic species. Impacts include mass mortalities of wild and farmed fish and shellfish, human illness and death from contaminated shellfish or fish, death of marine mammals, seabirds and other animals, and alterations of marine habitats or trophic structure. These economic, public health, and ecosystems impacts are strong practical motivations for a coordinated, multidisciplinary research program.
There have been four workshops convened to assist in the development of a National Research Program. Technical documents from each of these workshops have been published and the on-line versions of those documents are available below.
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