Harmful algal blooms (HABs) cause harm to human health or hinder sustainable use of the marine environment in Blue Economy sectors. HABs are temporally and spatially variable and hence their mitigation is closely linked to effective early warning. The European Union (EU) Interreg Atlantic Area project “PRIMROSE”, Predicting Risk and Impact of Harmful Events on the Aquaculture Sector, was focused on the joint development of HAB...

Across the European Atlantic Arc (Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Portugal) the shellfish aquaculture industry is dominated by the production of mussels, followed by oysters and clams. A range of spatially and temporally variable harmful algal bloom species (HABs) impact the industry through their production of biotoxins that accumulate and concentrate in shellfish flesh, which negatively impact the health of co...

We present an on-line early warning system that is operational in Scottish coastal waters to minimize the risk to humans and aquaculture businesses in terms of the human health and economic impacts of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their associated biotoxins. The system includes both map and time-series based visualization tools. A “traffic light” index approach is used to highlight locations at elevated HAB/biotoxin risk. Hi...