Supported by:
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  – NOAA
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division

…”Fishermen have a vested interest in ensuring the health of this region and making their communities more resilient to future Harmful Algal Blooms, while scientists need sustained 4-dimensional monitoring of the water column on the west Florida shelf to better understand red tides and other algal blooms. Moreover, commercial fishermen frequently transect the west Florida shelf while in transit to their fishing grounds. By providing fishermen with robust scientific instruments and an easy method to download and transmit the data to scientists, we can accomplish the objectives of both fishermen and scientists while simultaneously providing a number of other benefits to both communities. The goal of the sample design will be to quantify the environmental and oceanographic conditions before, during, and after red tide blooms to better understand their dynamics and provide timely decision-support to increase the resilience of fishermen and fishing communities on the west coast of Florida to red tide events.”