NOAA ESTABLISHES NEW ENGLAND RED TIDE INFORMATION WEB SITE

June 17, 2005 — To assist the public and news media in understanding the current red tide event in New England, NOAA established a special NOAA New England Red Tide Information Center Web site. The site can be accessed directly or through the NOAA home page. (NOAA image of warning sign posted in areas where shellfish have been contaminated by a red tide. Please credit “NOAA.”)

"This Web site provides information and links to useful information that will enable the public to understand what a red tide is, the required safety measures to follow, and how NOAA and its many partners are responding to the situation," stated retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

The site provides a capsule summary of the event and its potential harmful impacts on humans and shellfish; links to major news releases; information about the Magnuson-Stevenson Act provisions that apply; closure maps of both federal and state shellfish waters; and important state agency sites that are providing localized information.

Additionally the site provides information concerning NOAA's scientific response effort, general seafood safety information and where to report any marine mammal strandings or deaths.

The last section of the site provides scientific information from NOAA's major response partner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and several other sources.

The site will be periodically updated as needed during the continuing bloom event.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA New England Red Tide Information Center

NOAA Oceans and Coasts Service

NOAA Fisheries Service

Red Tide Triggers New England Shellfish Fishery Failure Determination

Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB)

Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB)

Media Contact:
Ben Sherman, NOAA Oceans and Coasts Service, (301) 713-3066 ext. 178