NCCOS’s Phytoplankton Monitoring Network trained over 30 environmental tribal personnel from Southeast Alaska and Kodiak Island in toxic phytoplankton sampling and identification. The training took part during the 8th Annual Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research (SEATOR) partnership harmful algal bloom workshop in June, conducted virtually this year due to coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions.
This year’s workshop included a session on methods to sample and identify freshwater harmful algal blooms, which are becoming a new threat to drinking water sources in southeast Alaska. The tribal network was formed in 2013 to mitigate the threats of eating shellfish tainted with algal-based toxins during traditional subsistence shellfish harvesting.
The NCCOS partnership with SEATOR is a multi-year project funded by the EPA Indian General Assistance Program and the Administration for Native Americans-Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Program.
Read more about earlier workshops held at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab in Sitka, Alaska, in 2018, and 2016.