Assessing the economic benefits and costs of red tide control and mitigation strategies along the south florida gulf coast florida red tide (karenia brevis) is one of the most notorious examples of…

Assessing the economic benefits and costs of red tide control and mitigation strategies along the south florida gulf coast florida red tide (karenia brevis) is one of the most notorious examples of harmful algal blooms (HABS) in the united states. IT has impacted the south florida gulf coast almost annually since systematic record taking started in the 1950S. Blooms can last for months and stretch over 100+ miles of coastline, causing widespread mortality to marine life and respiratory irritation in humans via airborne toxins. The economic consequences to this region, which represents about one fifth of the state economy, are profound and widespread. They range from revenue losses to businesses and tourism, public health costs, beach cleanup expenses, and direct welfare losses to residents and visitors via diminished recreational opportunities and interference with outdoor activities. To date, policymakers' primary response has been through public communication (beach condition reports, short term irritation forecasts) and EX-post mitigation (on-shore fish and debris removal). Yet, recent field examples from other parts of the world, and pilot projects headed by CO-PIS for this proposal, have shown that there exist technologies to actively control such blooms via neutralizing the offending organism in situ, thus reducing cell counts and impacts. There is also room to step up mitigation efforts via more widespread and timely removal of dead fish. Optimal decisions on the type, scope, and location of these control and mitigation interventions depend on a better understanding of the underlying economic benefits and costs. Building on an interdisciplinary team of top experts in their respective fields, this project combines scientific research on optimal control technologies with state-of-the-art economic survey and data analytic methods to generate estimates of benefits and costs of combined control and mitigation interventions for various hypothetical impact scenarios along the coast. Surveys will target both residential households and near-coast businesses. The methodological and empirical framework is designed to allow prediction of benefits and costs for any desired impact area within the study region and for various stakeholder groups. The proposed project is directly responsive to recent calls for socio-economic assessments of HAB control and mitigation strategies made in government reports and national workshops. Findings will provide planners and administrators with more flexibility to manage blooms in a cost-effective manner, and determine the optimal investment in control and mitigation capacity for future years. Ultimately, stakeholders will benefit from reduced debris loads and irritation levels on beaches and other public areas, and avoided closures and access restrictions. This, in turn, reduces the loss in recreational opportunities and enjoyment to the public, and revenue losses to local businesses. Our methods and findings readily generalize to other HAB contexts and thus have the potential to inform HAB policy well beyond the south florida region.