Forecasting doesn't eliminate the need for shellfish resource managers to test and monitor toxicity, but it can help them do so more effectively, says WHOI senior scientist Dennis McGillicuddy, a member of the team that developed HAB forecasting methods for the Gulf of Maine. It can also assist local public health departments in their responses to HABs. The NOAA forecasts are 'wonderful for us in public health,' says Reich, who advises Florida's 67 local health departments on HAB response. 'Generally, if they find a HAB offshore, and there's a circulation pattern or wind pattern blowing it onshore, we have two or three days' warning, so we have time to gear up.'

via Environmental Health Perspectives: Forecasts Aid HABs Response.