Washington state residents and industries heavily rely on local waters and seafood. Native tribes in the state have built a strong cultural connection with the shellfishes and fishes native to the area. The state is also home to the most shellfish farms in the country and, therefore, depends on the water's health. Harmful algae have been a common threat for water quality, shellfishes, and fishes in the state. The damaging effects have directly affected local communities, ecosystems, and economies. Locals reported numerous farm shutdowns and crop die-offs caused by harmful algae, and we anticipate similar events in the future. In 2006, Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) with funding from NOAA's Ocean and Human Health Initiative created SoundToxins--a Puget Sound phytoplankton monitoring program--to mitigate the problems by alerting the state health department about the presence of potentially harmful plankton and advance methods for early detection and prediction to protect our region better. The program initially started with four partners, and now, in 2020, the number has grown to 27 partners. Although the monitoring efforts are now led by Washington Sea Grant (WSG), these diverse partnerships continues to power the program.
