ABSTRACT
Anthropogenous nutrient loading has resulted in increased incidence and severity of plankton blooms in coastal systems around the world (Hallegraeff et al., 2003). Between 1965 and 1976, the number of confirmed worldwide red tide outbreaks (raphidophytes, dinoflagellates) increased sevenfold concurrent with a twofold increase in nutrient loading (Hallegraeff, 1995; Hallegraeff et al., 1995). Bricker et al. (1999) stated that 44 estuaries in the conterminous United States suffer “high expressions of eutrophic conditions,” with an additional 40 estuaries having “moderate [eutrophic] conditions.” In the United States, adverse effects due to plankton blooms are most pronounced along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Middle Atlantic states. Bricker et al. (1999) projected that eutrophic conditions would worsen in 86 estuaries by the year 2020.
