To manage red tide

With regard to the May 10 editorial, “Coping with red tide,” which called for more research and monitoring funds, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, together with the Department of Marine Resources and MER Assessment Corp., has already initiated an intensive red tide research and monitoring study in Casco Bay.

The study is meant to:

. Conduct more intensive monitoring of shellfish beds so that flats can be managed individually and closure areas can be smaller and opened more quickly.

. Pilot a new, more efficient, boat-based sampling technique for DMR to allow sampling of more areas in less time, irrespective of stage of tide. This method could be expanded coast-wide, allowing for better management of individual shellfish areas.

. Investigate more precisely the geographic origins of the red tide blooms. Coastal waters are also being monitored to look for relationships between red tide and water quality.

On May 11, red tide toxin levels were high enough in areas of Casco Bay that DMR had to issue new flat closures. With the new study data, DMR could better delineate the affected areas and leave many areas open that would otherwise have to be closed including the upper New Meadows River, Middle Bay and Maquoit Bay.

The severe bloom of last summer could signal the beginning of a decade or more of large blooms, extensive closures and continued economic hardship. CBEP hopes this study will be one step toward improved management of red tide not only in Casco Bay but throughout coastal Maine and New England.

Karen Young

Director, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership

Portland