Harmful Algal Bloom Program

LOI August 17; full Oct. 14

The purpose of this document is to advise the public that NOAA is soliciting proposals for the interagency Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms Program (ECOHAB), the NOAA Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms Program (MERHAB), and the NOAA Prevention, Control, and Mitigation of Harmful Algal Blooms Program (PCMHAB).
    ECOHAB Objectives ECOHAB aims to develop quantitative understanding of HABs and, where applicable, their toxins in relation to the surrounding environment with the intent of providing new information and tools, predictive models and forecasts, and prevention strategies and to develop models of trophic transfer of toxins, knowledge of biosynthesis and metabolism of toxins, and assessment of impacts of toxins on higher trophic levels. Information in these areas, in turn, supports a critical goal of the ECOHAB program, the development of reliable models to forecast bloom development, persistence, toxicity, and impacts.
    Research results will be used directly to guide management of coastal resources to reduce HAB development, impacts, and future threats and will feed into other HAB programs for development of tools to improve HAB management and response. MERHAB Objectives The principal objective of MERHAB is to build capacity of local, state, and tribal governments, and the private sector, for less costly and more precise and comprehensive monitoring of HAB cells and toxins, and for responding to HAB events. With these advances, State programs will be better able to take preventative actions (e.g. increase monitoring efforts, close shellfish beds, warn affected communities) to safeguard the public health, local economies, and fisheries. Further advancements will assist the wildlife health communities respond to HAB-related mortalities.
    As a result of the MERHAB Program, managers will be able to mitigate the expanding HAB problems in their coastal regions and be better positioned, especially during difficult state fiscal climates, to request long-term support from local, state, regional or Federal funding sources. PCMHAB Objectives The PCM HAB program will transition promising technologies and strategies for preventing, controlling, or mitigating HABs and their impacts from development through demonstration and technology transfer for field application by end-users. The technologies will arise from HAB research conducted by the two existing national HAB programs, ECOHAB and MERHAB, or other research programs which conduct some HAB research. The purpose is to develop new tools to improve HAB management and response.