This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Emerging Priorities project "National assessment of harmful algal bloom preparedness and future needs". No data outputs are planned for this project. -------------------- The 2025 South Australian harmful algal bloom (HAB) highlighted major gaps in Australia’s preparedness for large-scale marine HAB events, including limitations in surveillance capability, forecasting systems, coordination arrangements and long-term response planning. While HABs are not new to Australia, the scale, duration and ecological impacts of the South Australian event demonstrated the need for a broader national assessment of HAB science capability and policy readiness. This project will review Australia’s current capability for HAB surveillance, forecasting, response and management across environmental and seafood-safety domains. It will examine existing monitoring systems, research capability, early-warning approaches, coordination arrangements and operational policy settings across Commonwealth, state and territory jurisdictions. The review will consider lessons from the South Australian bloom alongside national and international approaches to HAB preparedness and management, including monitoring technologies, forecasting systems and risk mitigation strategies. It will also consider relevant recommendations from the Australian Senate inquiry into the South Australian algal bloom and broader national policy frameworks, including the draft Sustainable Ocean Plan. Project outputs will include an assessment of current national HAB capability, identification of critical knowledge and operational gaps, and recommendations for improving HAB preparedness, surveillance, forecasting, coordination and response capacity in Australia. Outputs • Final technical report [written]

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Emerging Priorities project "Learning from the field: a rapid assessment of the composition and ecotoxicology of the harmful algal bloom in South Australia". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- A severe harmful algal bloom (HAB) involving Karenia species has affected large areas of the South Australian coastline, including Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf and Investigator Strait. The species composition, toxicity and ecological impact pathways of the bloom remain poorly understood, limiting the ability of agencies to respond to ongoing and future bloom events. This Emerging Priorities project will conduct a rapid investigation of the composition, toxicity and variability of the South Australian Karenia bloom across sites, depths and bloom stages. Broadscale water sampling will target areas of bloom spread and prolonged exposure, with sampling locations adjusted using satellite chlorophyll maps and field observations. The project will combine microscopy, qPCR-based species identification and abundance estimates, rotifer bioassays, and brevetoxin screening. Rotifer assays will provide a rapid comparative indicator of aquatic toxicity, while qPCR will identify and quantify Karenia species in the same samples, allowing toxicity results to be linked with species composition and bloom development. Selected field samples and cultured strains will also be screened for brevetoxins in collaboration with allied HAB research initiatives. Outputs will include baseline information on bloom toxicity and variability, qPCR-linked species composition data, a rapid rotifer assay method, and a foundational dataset linking Karenia community structure with toxicological response. The findings will support SA DEW, Commonwealth agencies and other research users in understanding bloom impact pathways, improving future HAB response, and informing long-term monitoring and marine environmental management. Outputs • Integrated harmful algal bloom field, water-quality and toxicology dataset across Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf and Investigator Strait [dataset] • Karenia species composition and abundance dataset derived from microscopy and qPCR analyses [dataset] • Toxicity assessment dataset incorporating rotifer bioassays and brevetoxin screening results [dataset] • Final technical report [written]