WHOI-T-00-002 C2 WHOI-2000-11 gp,N oGgg 0 Oo0 1930 WoodsHole Estimated Annual EconomicImpacts from Harmful Algal Blooms HABs! in the United States Donald M. Anderso'ri' Porter Hoagland Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, MA 02543 Yoshi Kaortj Nanzan University...::;::::,'. Nagoya, lapan Alan W. White MassachusettsMaritime Academy BuzzardsBay, MA 02532 September 2000 Technical Report Fundingwas provided by the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration under Crants No. NA46RC0470 and NA90AA-D-SC480, the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE-9321244, and the Johnson Endowment of the Marine Policy Center, Approvedfor publicrelease; distribution unlimited. WHOI-2000-11 Estimated Annual Economic Impacts from Harmful Algal Blooms HABs! in the United States by Donald M. Anderson, Porter Hoagland Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, MA 02543 Yoshi Kaoru Nanzan University Nagoya, Japan AIan W. White Massachusetts Maritixne Academy Buzzards Bay, MA 02532 September 2000 Technical Report Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Grants No. NA46RG0470 and NA90AA-D-SG480, the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCK-932I244, and the Johnson Endowment of the Marine Policy Center. Reproductionin whole or in part is permittedfor any purposeof the United States Government. This report should be cited as Woods Hole Oceanog.Inst. Tech. Rept., %'HOI-2000-l l. Approvedfor public release;distribution unlimited. Approved for Distribution: Laurence P. Madin, Chair Department of Biology EconomicImpact of HABsin the U.S. ACKNOWLEDGE1VlKNTS We extendspecial thanks to the followingpeople for theirassistance in providinginformation for this report: D. Baden Universityof Miami!; D, Blythe University of Miami!; J. Burkholder NorthCarolina State University!; R. Conn City of Sarasota,Florida!; L. Fleming University of Miami!; W, Foster Departmentof Marine Resources,State of Maine!; R, Haddock Guam Departmentof Public Health!;Y. Hokama University of Hawaii!; R. Horner University of Washington!;J. Hurst Departmentof Marine Resources,State of Maine!; C. Lobban University of Guam!; K. Lynch North CarolinaDepartment of Environment,Health and NaturalResources!; V. Paul University of Guam!; R. RaLonde University of Alaska!; W. Roihenbach City of Sarasota,Florida!; E. Todd Departmentof Healthand Welfare, Canada!; T. Tosteson University of PuertoRico!; K. Wtute Departmentof Fisheriesand Oceans, Canada!; and R. Weisrnan Florida PoisonInforination Center!. We alsothank the following peoplefor information which they provided during the initial stages of thisproject: C. Allison AK!; S.Barker ME!; R. Barrett AK!; B. Barss OR!;T. Beardsley AK!; R. Reeker LA!; T. Bettinger AK!; E. Buskey TX!; D. Cannon OR!; K. Canty MA!; P. Chapman WA!; R. Collins CA!; E. Cosper NY!; E. Cox TX!; R. D'Arnica NY!; C. Dequillseldt NY!; B. Dewey WA!; P. DiPietro MA!; W, Donaldson AK!; B. Eisley NJ!; J. Finger CA!; A. Freudenthal NY!; J. Garrett FL!; B. Halgren NJ!; R, Hanowell WA!; D, Heil FL!; Y, Hokama HI!; R. Horner WA!; J. Hunt FL!; J. Hurst ME!; T. Johnson CA!; J. Johnson OR!; S. Kennedy FL!; G. Langlois CA!; R. Lewis ME!; R. Madiack NJ!; J. Mahoney NJ!; H. Marshall VA!; M. McCallum WA!; M. McNair AK!; J. Nelson NH!; C. Newell ME!; R, Nuzzi NY!; P. Olsen NJ!; M. Ostasz AK!; J, Paeth OR!; PierceAssociates MA!; R. Pierce FL!; H. Radtke OR!; P. Raiche NH!; T. Reisingor TX!; J. Rensel WA!; B, Roberts FL!; L. Robinson TX!; M. Ross CA!; P. Rubec TX!; ShoreAppraisals MA!; D. Simons WA!; T. Smith WA!; K. Spiller TX!; G. Stater OR!; K.Steidinger FL!; M. Street NC!; C. Strong NY!; W. Tatum AL!; P. Tester NC!; R. Usher MA!; J. Volk CT!; C. Weise AK!; T. Whitledge TX!; D. Whittaker MA!; S. Wilk NJ!; and G. Woods MA!. We thankMs. Ellen Gately for typographicalassistance with this manuscript,and Ms. Judy Kleindinst and Ms, Kristin Gribble for their editorial efforts. This research was supported in part by NOAA NationalSea Grani CollegeProgram Office, Departmentof Commerce,under Grants No. NA46RG0470 and NA90AA-D-SG480, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant ProjectsNo. R/8-150-PT and R/S-24,by NSF Grant OCE-9321244,and by the Johnson Endowtneni of the WHOI Marine Policy Center. Economic itnpact of HABs in the U.S, EXECUTIVE SUMPclARY Blooms of toxic or harmful microalgae,commonly called "red tides," representa significant and expandingthreat to humanhealth and fisheries resources throughout the United Statesand the world. These phenomenatake inany forms, rangIngfrom massiveaccumulations of cells that discolor the water to dilute, inconspicuous,but highly toxic populations, Ecological,aesthetic, andpublic health impacts include: mass mortalities of wild andfarmed fish andshellfish; human intoxication and death from the consumptionof contaminatedshellfish or Gsh; alterations of marine food webs through adverseeffects on larvaeand other life history stagesof commercial fish species;the noxious smell and appearanceof algaeaccumulated in nearshorewaters or depositedon beaches;and mass mortalities of marinemainmals, seabirds, and other animals. Many harmful algal blooms HABs! havesignificant economic impacts. Shellfishclosures, wild or farmed fish mortalities, and scared consumers who avoid seafood are well-recognized impacts of major HABs, While adversehealth effects and lost sales of fish and shellfish products are direct costs, constraineddevelopment or investmentdecisions in coastalaquaculture due to the threat &om outbreaksof toxic algaeare examplesof poorly understood or poorly quantified indirect or hidden costs. Lost marinerecreational opportunities also are a significant cost of harmful algal bloom incidents. HABs have increasedsteadily in both speciescomplexity and geographicalextent over the last severaldecades. In turn, the rangeof hmnfuI eKectsand the magnitudeof economiccosts have also widened. This report providesthe first comprehensiveestimate of the economicimpacts of HABs in the United States,focusing on both direct and indirect costs. We estimatethe economicimpacts of HABs for events where such impacts were measurable with a fair degreeof confidenceduring the six-year interval of 1987-92 Table ES.1!. Due to reporting limitations, the selectedevents are a subset of all outbreaksthat occurred during the 1987-92 study period, and thus our ~ate economic impact underestimates the true impacts, "Economic unpact" is definedbroadly to meaneither lost grossrevenues in the relevantproduct or factor markets,expenditures for environmentalmonitoring and management, or other costs that would not have been incurred in the absenceof HABs, In general, this measure is consistent with published estimatesmade for other natural catastrophes,such as hurricanesor earthquakes, Economicmultipliers, often usedto approximatethe full ramificationsof costs or lossesas they are transferred through a local economy, are not used here. The calculation of economic multipliers in the absenceof detaileddata on market structure and interactionscan be misleading, as multipliers canbe sensitiveto local market structure characteristicsand to the quality of data that describe interactions among market sectors. Developing a description of local and regional marketsfor specific HAB eventswas beyondthe scopeof this project. Economic Impact of HABs in the U.S. ~C & N8 O CO Cl «! COK 0 O tC gLs 'O0 Q Ch C 00 Ch ~ Q4 O a5 Cg C 'a4J C Economicimpact of HABs in the U.S. Economic impacts are grouped into four basic categories; ! public health impacts; ! commercialfishery impacts; ! recreation and tourism impacts; and ! monitoring and managementcosts. Unless otherwise indicated, all estimatesare reported in 2000U.S. dollars. Public Health Im acts Human sicknessand death from eating tainted seafoodresults in lost wages and work days. Costs of medicaltreatment and investigationalso are an important part of the economicimpact causedby suchevents. Cases of sicknessand death from shellfishtoxins are probably the most clearlydocumented among the different types of HAB impacts,since these cases are recorded by public healthagencies in individual statesas well as at the federallevel. Forthe 1987-92period, the averagepublic healthimpact due to shellfishpoisoning from HABs wasapproximately $1 miUionper year causedby paralytic,neurotoxic and amnesicshellfish poisoning,or PSP,NSP, and ASP respective1y!.This total is low becauseof highly effective state monitoring programs that detect toxic sheNish and keep contaminatedproducts off the market, Another problem causedby toxic algaeis the fish poisoning syndromecalled ciguatera, causedby dinoflagellatetoxins that move through the tropical food chain to the larger fish that then poisonhuman consumers. Ciguatera affects predominantly the residentsof, and visitors to, Florida, Hawaii, PuertoRico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Marshall Islands. Over the study interval, the economicimpact of ciguaterapoisoning varied from $18 million to more than $24 million per year,averaging $21 million, Theseestimates are low since ciguaterapoisoning has occurredoutside the tropical areaslisted above due to exports of fish to other jurisdictions, Further, some seafood companies purchase insurance to cover potential ciguatera-caused liabilities, andthere are court costs associatedwith ciguatera-relatedlitigation neither of which we were able to quantify for the study interval. The total public healthimpacts &om HABs rangedfrom a low of $18million to a highof $25 million,averaging $22 million overthe six-yearinterval.