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The 2025 Gulf of Maine HAB Science Symposium will be held March 11-12 at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services office located at 222 International Drive (Suite 175) in Portsmouth, NH.  Directions to the facility and a map are available HERE.

The main meeting will be held on March 11, with space reserved on the morning of the 12th for group meetings and a Pseudo-nitzschia identification workshop led by Kate Hubbard (FWC FWRI). The goal of this Symposium is to facilitate discussion of ongoing issues, priorities, and concerns, and to share information that supports our understanding of HABs in this region.

This meeting is supported by the Community Engagement Core of the WHCOHH through grants from the National Science Foundation (OCE-2418297) and the National Institute of Environmental Health (P01ES028938).

We welcome your feedback on the meeting agenda and format!  Please send suggestions & questions to Mindy Richlen.

March 11, 2025

8:30-9:00 amCoffee & breakfast
9:00-9:10 amIntroduction

Welcome & agenda review
Mindy Richlen, Don Anderson, Mike Brosnahan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
9:15-9:45 amInshore Alexandrium bloom event in Nauset Estuary and Pleasant Bay
Chrissy Petitpas, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MA DMF); Mike Brosnahan (WHOI)
9:45-10:00 amData needs for estimating shellfish consumption exposure
Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Boston University
10:00-10:30 amDetermining the pace of seasonal phytoplankton community evolution in the Gulf of Maine with PACE (NASA's Plankton Aerosol Cloud and ocean Ecosystem mission)
Collin Roesler, Bowdoin College
Break
11:00-11:30 amEmerging HAB technologies and monitoring updates
Harmful Algal Bloom Observing Network – New England (HABON-NE)
Mike Brosnahan (WHOI)

11:30 am-12:30 pmRegional Updates & Observations
1. Biotoxins and Shellstock Monitoring Components of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP)
Joe Boutilier, Chantal Surette (Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA)
2. Spatial and temporal patterns of HABs and toxicity in ME
Bryant Lewis, Maine Department of Marine Resources (ME DMR)
3. Spatial and temporal patterns of HABs and toxicity in NH
Sara Smith (University of New Hampshire & New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, NH DES)
4. Pseudo-nitzschia observations and dynamics in the Gulf of Maine.
Kate Hubbard (FL FWRI)
12:30-1:30 pmLunch
1:30-2:15 pmRegional Updates & Observations (continued)
5. Spatial and temporal patterns of HABs and toxicity in MA
Melissa Campbell and Brooke Dejadon (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, DMF)

6. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) surveys
Scott Libby (Battelle) and Chris Goodwin (MWRA)
7. Rhode Island 2024 HAB Update
David Borkman (Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, RI DEM)
2:15-2:30 pmOverview of HAB Event Response program
Sarah Pease, Marc Suddleson, Maggie Broadwater NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)
Q&A; Break
3:00-4:00 pmRegional Forecasting: 2024 review and 2025 outlook
PST Index update for 2025
Don Anderson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2024 Hydromet Review; 2025 Outlook & NWS Future Plans
William Leatham (NOAA NWS)
GOM regional retrospective for 2024 and updates for 2025
Yizhen Li, Rick Stumpf (NOAA NCCOS)
4:00-4:45 pmHAB Science Updates
Effects of emerging harmful algal toxins yessotoxins, pectenotoxin-2, and azaspiracids on Crassostrea virginica and C. gigas larvae
Nour Ayache (WHOI)
Prevalent sexual cycling of Dinophysis acuminata in concentrated thin layers in Nauset Marsh, MA.
Serena Sung-Clarke (WHOI)
AZMP Survey Observations (title to be confirmed)
Serena Sung-Clarke (WHOI)Serena Negroni (WHOI)
4:45 pmGroup discussion, Q&A
5:00 pmReview workshops and team meetings on March 12; Adjourn

March 12, 2023

Meeting room B
Meeting room A
8:30-9:00 amCoffee & snacks
Coffee & snacks
9:00-11:00 amWorkshop on Pseudo-nitzschia identification and morphotypes - Kate Hubbard (FL FWRI) and Colleagues
11:00-1:00 pmFlowCam User Group Discussion - Savannah Stresser, Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies
Team Meeting TBD