WB: Fishing at risk due to Algae bloom

Fishing along Bengal's coastline is facing a major threat from harmful algal bloom that is spreading fast for days in the Bay of Bengal and its estuaries.
Acting on complaints by fishermen of a sudden dip in catch, scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) visited Digha and Bichitrapur in Odisha in December-end and discovered the algal bloom. They have submitted a report, warning it may just be the beginning of something that could disrupt the entire ecosystem if not monitored and addressed urgently. Algal bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh or marine water, often recognised by the discolouration of water from the algae's pigments. The bloom consists of phytoplankton or free-floating microscopic algae.Not all phytoplankton are harmful but the toxic ones are referred to as harmful algal blooms (HABs), which kill water organisms, especially fish, by causing oxygen depletion. Even after the bloom dies, the microbes that decompose the dead algae use up oxygen. causing fish to suffocate. Scientists believe the thriving of HABS along the Bengal-Odisha coastline is due to chemical effluents in the water and climate change.