Sullivan, Joyce, & Bonamici Lead Bicameral Legislation to Improve Harmful Algal Bloom Response

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Representatives Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) reintroduced the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act (HABHRCA) of 2025, legislation to reauthorize the original HABHRCA of 1998 for coordinated, effective federal-state responses to harmful algal blooms (HABs) and strengthens the program to ensure that communities have access to HAB observation data, training in HAB monitoring, prevention, and mitigation, and access to testing for HAB toxins.

HABs occur in all 50 states, in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. This legislation responds to the increasing severity of harmful algal blooms, with the 2022 algal bloom in Alaska’s Bering Strait region being one of the largest and most toxic blooms ever observed nationwide. HABs directly threaten food security and subsistence and can reduce oxygen levels in the water in events called hypoxia, killing fish and other marine life and harming coastal ecosystems and economies.

“Unchecked harmful algal blooms can threaten our marine life and coastal ecosystems, the livelihoods of our commercial fisheries and coastal communities, and the health and well-being of Alaskans,” Senator Sullivan said. “Alaska is our country’s leading seafood producer and home to more coastline than the contiguous Lower 48 states combined, making our response to HABs critically important. This legislation develops and coordinates effective responses to harmful algal blooms and will improve the monitoring of the health of our oceans for the sake of coastal communities, especially those that rely on subsistence. I want to thank Representatives Joyce and Bonamici, as well as our crucial Alaska stakeholders, for working with me to support the health of our marine ecosystems in Alaska and nationwide.”

“The shallowest of all the Great Lakes, Lake Erie, is particularly vulnerable to harmful algal blooms, which have plagued the lake for decades. Any threat to Lake Erie is also a threat to the drinking water supply for 11 million people, our tourism industry, and all the plants and animals that are part of the lake’s ecosystem,” said Congressman Joyce, Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Task Force. “I am proud to introduce this bipartisan, bicameral bill to ensure Lake Erie, and every state in America, is protected from these dangerous threats to our bodies of water.”

“The scale and frequency of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia events continue to increase with climate change, damaging beloved places, harming fisheries central to coastal economies, affecting tourism, and threatening public and ecosystem health,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “This legislation will empower coastal and freshwater communities to better monitor these disastrous events and leverage research to mitigate and prevent their worst effects.”

Below are comments from marine stakeholders nationally and in Alaska:

“HABs are a novel danger to food security and food safety for people that rely on the comprehensive use of Arctic marine ecosystems for their nutritional, cultural, and economic well-being. HABs create serious conservation concerns for Arctic marine wildlife that rely on a healthy food web. The revised HABARCA includes Arctic marine ecosystems and the people that rely on them – we hope it is reauthorized ASAP!” - Gay Sheffield, Marine Advisory Program Agent, Alaska Sea Grant

“Alaskan coastal communities are facing a threat to their economy as well as their food safety and security because of HABs. HABHRCA has been crucial in helping to understand and mitigate that risk, and it is imperative that this support continue.” - Sheyna Wisdom, Executive Director, & Dr. Thomas Farrugia, Program Manager, Alaska Ocean Observing System

“Harmful algal blooms involve the base of the food chain and thus are a significant concern for traditional and commercial harvesters in the Alaskan Arctic region. HABHRCA has already made a significant difference in our understanding of this growing threat, but more research and outreach are needed through reauthorization of HABHRCA to further develop management of food security and safety harvested from the marine ecosystem.” – Emma Pate, Nome Eskimo Community Executive Director

“The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a national and international leader in harmful algal bloom (HAB) research, strongly supports the reauthorization of HABHRCA. The increasing frequency and intensity of HAB events along every coast, including the Great Lakes and Arctic, is having significant economic, environmental, and human health impacts nationwide. The diversity and complexity of these events requires continuing support for improved understanding of ocean and coastal process contributing to HAB blooms and the development of effective monitoring and mitigation technologies.” - Peter de Menocal, President and Director, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A copy of the bill can be found here.

Background:

The original Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA) was passed in 1998 and established an interagency task force to assess the distribution of harmful algal blooms and their impacts on coastal waters and human health. HABHRCA has since been reauthorized three times, through FY 2023, and is currently due for reauthorization. This bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee last year.

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