Florida Red Tide Policy Assessment
A Q&A Excerpt
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| Are Florida red tides getting worse? Possibly. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) appear to be getting worse throughout the world. Some of the forcing factors believed to play a role in the worldwide trend are increased nutrient enrichment resulting from population growth and land use practices and increased water temperatures due to global climate change. Although the general trend appears to be worsening, trends for specific HABs can embody more uncertainty. This is particularly true for offshore HABs such as Karenia brevis, the organism that causes Florida red tides. Southwest Florida has endured red tide blooms on a near-annual basis over the past two decades, and the 2005 bloom was one of the most severe on record. However, Florida red tide blooms of similar intensity and duration have been confirmed as far back as 1948-49, and anecdotal evidence suggests that severe blooms have scourged the region for hundreds, if not thousands of years. There is broad consensus that Florida red tides have been especially active in recent years, but putting this decade into historical perspective is extremely difficult due to a lack of data suitable for determining historical trends. |
Can coastal pollution exacerbate Florida red tides? Probably. The recipe for Florida red tides is complex. The relative importance of different ingredients ‑ nutrient sources and other environmental factors ‑ varies over the different stages of a bloom and it is possible that the specific recipe responsible for red tides varies from bloom to bloom. Terrestrial nutrient fluxes are one of many ingredients that can contribute to a red tide bloom, and coastal pollution exacerbates these fluxes. Most scientists agree that red tide blooms initiate offshore before being transported inshore by wind and ocean currents. They believe coastal runoff is unlikely to affect the early stages of a bloom, but when a bloom moves inshore, they acknowledge that runoff can play a role in intensifying or prolonging a bloom. Assessing the relative importance of terrestrial nutrient sources, including coastal pollution, remains a top research priority. |
What impacts do Florida red tides have on marine life and human health? Karenia brevis, the organism responsible for Florida red tide blooms, produces a powerful collection of neurotoxins called brevetoxins. The release of these brevetoxins can cause massive fish kills and significant mortality events for sea birds and marine mammals. Large fish kills can occasionally generate hypoxic zones, or areas of low oxygen, that can kill even more marine life. The extent to which red tides affect populations of ecologically and economically important fisheries over time and space is poorly known. Human health impacts usually take the form of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) and respiratory irritation. Adverse impacts could also result from long-term exposure to brevetoxins, but research on such chronic effects of Florida red tide in humans is in its infancy. |
What impacts do Florida red tides have on the economy? Florida red tides impose significant economic costs in localized areas, but the cumulative impacts for an entire coastal region affected by a bloom are difficult to calculate. Existing estimates are highly inconsistent and heavily dependent upon the assumptions of the analysts. Given the likelihood of displaced economic activity, economists need to better understand how consumers respond to red tide events before they can provide accurate impact assessments. Better data on tourist, recreational and real estate activity in the presence and absence of red tides will be critical for future assessments in Florida. |
What management options exist for responding to Florida red tides? There are three types of management options for dealing with Florida red tides: 1. Measures that reduce potential human contributions to red tide (preventive measures) 2. Measures to control or eliminate red tide when it occurs (control measures) 3. Measures to reduce the impacts of red tide when it occurs (mitigation measures) Effective management strategies should incorporate all three options. Excess nutrients in our watersheds give rise to a variety of problems that we need to avoid. A precautionary approach to Florida red tides that incorporates the reduction of nutrient loads as a part of a general nutrient management strategy will yield benefits that go far beyond impacts on red tide. Research on control technologies should continue. Given the limited applications for the most viable technologies projected over the short term, the research portfolio should remain diversified. A more substantial effort should also be made to improve efforts to mitigate red tide's impacts. Mitigation measures should include a robust program on monitoring, detection and forecasting, but it should also include a robust human dimensions research agenda and an aggressive education and outreach program. This would include projects that measure public perception and knowledge about red tide, projects that measure economic activity before, during and after blooms and projects that improve upon interagency coordination and emergency response and recovery plans. |
What regulatory mechanisms exist for reducing coastal pollution? There is a widespread consensus that Florida needs to reduce the amount of non-point source pollution that makes its way into ground and surface waters. The most relevant regulatory mechanisms for realizing these reductions fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). FDEP is currently overhauling Florida's water regulatory framework in the shadow of federal oversight. The overhaul includes assuming responsibility for permitting under the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), assessing all of the state's waterways and establishing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), or water quality standards, for those designated as impaired, and developing 29 Basin Management Action Plans that implement the TMDLs across all 52 of Florida's watersheds. These regulatory changes under existing law have as great a likelihood of reducing nutrient loads and improving water quality in Florida as would new laws enacted as a direct response to red tides. Supplemental ordinances from local governments may improve local conditions, but Florida's future water quality will largely be determined by rigorous enforcement of permitting requirements, as well as the new standards being developed and the programs being designed to implement them. |
Are there any viable control technologies for combating Florida red tides? There are a variety of ways to control, kill and/or remove K. brevis cells from the water column. It is easy to do this in a small, contained environment but controlling red tide blooms at the scales that we normally find them in coastal and marine environments is far more challenging. Research is being conducted on a handful of viable technologies, but the conditions under which these control technologies can be used will be limited in the near term. The most likely applications might be found in intercoastal waterways and canals. Open-water applications pose the most difficult challenges for control technologies, and technological fixes for large-scale blooms remains unlikely over the short to medium term. |
How can oversight of Florida's red tide research and management activities be improved? The governance of both research and management can be improved upon by redesigning, refunding and reconvening the Florida Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force, and creating a mechanism that provides for periodic external reviews of the entire HAB program. The Florida Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force was first established in 1997 as an ad hoc advisory body to address harmful algal bloom (HAB) issues in Florida waters. In 1999 it was legislatively authorized to provide a handful of governance and oversight functions, but it has since become dormant. The need to perform the functions outlined in its original legislative mandate is as strong today as it was when it was established. The composition of the Task Force would benefit from a broader and more balanced representation of societal interests. Florida's HAB research and management programs could also benefit from periodic external reviews. External reviews could help mediate some of the most contentious scientific disputes, endorse program areas that are performing well, outline measures for improvement, and help to restore trust with disaffected stakeholders. |
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