Senate Unanimously Approves Sullivan Bill to Improve Harmful Algal Bloom Response

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) today thanked his Senate colleagues for unanimously passing his Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments (HABHRCA) Act of 2025, strong, bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the original HABHRCA Act of 1998 for coordinated, effective federal-state responses to harmful algal blooms (HABs) and strengthen the program to ensure that communities have access to HAB observation data, training in HAB monitoring, prevention, and mitigation, and access to testing for HAB toxins. Companion legislation, introduced by Representatives Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), is still under consideration in the House.

HABs occur in all 50 states, in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. The HABHRCA Act of 2025 responds to the increasing severity of harmful algal blooms, with the 2022 algal bloom in Alaska's Bering Strait region being one of the largest and most toxic blooms ever observed nationwide. HABs directly threaten food security and subsistence and can reduce oxygen levels in the water in events called hypoxia, killing fish and other marine life and harming coastal ecosystems and economies.

"Unchecked harmful algal blooms can threaten our marine life and coastal ecosystems, the livelihoods of our commercial fisheries and coastal communities, and the health and well-being of Alaskans," Senator Sullivan said. "Alaska is our country's leading seafood producer and home to more coastline than the contiguous Lower 48 states combined, making our response to HABs critically important. I want to thank all of my Senate colleagues for unanimously approving this important legislation, which will develop and coordinate effective responses to harmful algal blooms and improve the monitoring of the health of our oceans for the sake of coastal communities, especially those that rely on subsistence. I also want to commend our many Alaska stakeholders for working with me to support the health of our marine ecosystems in Alaska and across the country."

Below are comments from marine stakeholders nationally and in Alaska:

"The reauthorized HABHRCA is a vital heartbeat in the extensive research yet to be done in our marine environment. Essential data through methods that protect our natural resources will assist all in adaptive management decisions for food security and safety," said Emma Pate, executive director of the Nome Eskimo Community. "All of us worldwide rely on foods from the marine ecosystem. Thank you, U.S. Congress, for recognizing the imperative need to continue with your support."

"The reauthorized HABHRCA now includes northern marine ecosystems and the people that rely on them for nutritional, cultural, and economic well-being," said Gay Sheffield, UAF Alaska Sea Grant, Marine Advisory Program Agent (Nome). "Many thanks to our U.S. Congress for recognizing the needs and concerns of Arctic Americans!"

"HABHRCA provides essential support to human and environmental health and safety as well as to economic growth and prosperity nationwide," said Don Anderson, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and director of the U.S. National Office of Harmful Algal Blooms. "The legislation recognizes the need for a comprehensive response to HABs and hypoxia and authorizes multiple funding programs and management activities across federal agencies that have had a huge positive impact on U.S. capabilities to monitor and manage these outbreaks. The success of the U.S. National HAB program is built on HABHRCA's emphasis on facilitating partnerships among federal, state, academic, and industry stakeholders, underscoring the bipartisan nature of HAB and hypoxia problems and their national importance."

"Harmful algal blooms and their toxins are a threat to the food safety, food security, and economy of Alaskan coastal communities," said Sheyna Wisdom, executive director, and Dr. Thomas Farrugia, program manager, Alaska Ocean Observing System. "Reauthorizing HABHRCA will continue the crucial research and monitoring efforts that are helping us to understand and mitigate the HAB risks in Alaska. We are very happy to see this legislation pass the Senate and hope for a speedy passage into law."

The legislation was cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Angus King (I-Maine), and John Kennedy (R-La.).

A copy of the bill can be found here.

Background:

The original HABHRCA Act was passed in 1998 and established an interagency task force to assess the distribution of harmful algal blooms and their impacts on coastal waters and human health. The HABHRCA Act has since been reauthorized three times, through FY 2023, and is currently due for reauthorization.

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