A Short Review on the Recent Problem of Red Tide in Jakarta Bay: Effect of Red Tide on Fish and Human

Abstract

Red tide or marine phytoplankton blooms is a naturally occurring phenomenon. It appears that frequency, intensity and geographical distribution of harmful algae (i.e. red tide) have increased over the last few decades. Red tide is the condition of the microscopic, single-celled plant that live in the sea grows very fast or ‘bloom’ and accumulate into dense, visible patches near the surface of the water. The occurrence of red tide close related to the eutrophication and right environmental conditions, such as adequate light, high water temperatures and an input of organic compounds from the land after heavy rains. Direct effect of red tide to the fish are seriously damage fish gills, either mechanically or through production of harmful chemicals, neurotoxin, hemolytic or blood agglutinating substances that cause physiological damage gill, major organs (liver etc.), intestine, circulatory or respiratory systems or interfere with osmoregulatory processes. In other hand, indirect effect of red tide to the fish is anoxia due to the over-use of oxygen for respiration and decay of dense phytoplankton. The red tide organisms could harm human through consumption on filter feeder animals (e.g. fish or mussels) that contain ‘red tide’ toxins previously absorbed by those animals.