Bloom of Pyrodinium bahamense var compressum in Ambon Bay, eastern Indonesia

In 1996 the illness of more than 30 people and the deathof 3 children after consuming shellfish from Ambon Bay. The occurrences and blooms of P. bahamense, neither its toxic events had never been known in Ambon Bay. Therefore, a monitoring programme on the PSP species occurrence has been carried out since 2008. The bloom of P. bahamense was detectedin July 2012. After the toxic red tide, human illness of 7 people due to shellfish consumption was also reported. In addition, the bloom event hasdamaged aquaculture products, due to mass mortality of cultured fish in inner Ambon Bay. To deal with this problem, a platform of monitoring has to be implemented to observe the abundance of the species and its relation with environmental conditions. Harmful Algal News. IOC Newsletter on Toxic Algae and Algal Bloom. 2013. No.47 www.ioc-unesco.org/hab