A recently released study put an updated price tag on the costs associated with the 2018 red tide in Southwest Florida, which lasted in duration from October 2017 to January 2019. 

While previous estimates placed the total cost of the extended harmful algal bloom (HAB) at $318 million, updated data found it to have ultimately caused $2.7 billion in losses. 

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The environmental and economic impacts of this red tide event were unprecedented, wreaking havoc on wildlife and upending the tourism-based, clean water economy of Southwest Florida. 

The study, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), focused on the impacts of the bloom on the coastal tourism economy, integrating biological and economic databases to estimate total economic losses due to the HAB. 

Researchers found that the calculated $2.7 billion in losses “were due to decreased revenues in hotels, restaurants, bars, and other businesses on the coastline.” The authors explain that “this new estimate suggests that the magnitude of losses due to red tide events can pose a devastating economic threat to the tourism industry” — an impact we have experienced firsthand in our coastal communities from HABs. 

In January 2024, SCCF partnered with Captains For Clean Water and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida on a study executed by Greene Economics, which explores the potential economic impacts of a future HAB similar to the 2006-07 or 2018 red tides in Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties.

Both of these studies give us all the more reason to advocate for science-based projects and policies that improve water quality and maintain healthy ecosystems across our coastal communities.