Nicky Haigh

Address
Program Head
Harmful Algae Monitoring Program
Rm 205, Building 373
Vancouver Island University
900th Fifth St
Nanaimo BC
Canada V9R 5S5

Phone: 250-740-6354

Email: nicky.haigh@viu.ca

Research area(s):

  • Plankton

Area of Expertise:

Nicky Haig has over 20 years of experience in plankton identification and monitoring. She graduated in 1994 from UBC after achieving her BSc (Hons) in Biology and Oceanography, doing her Honor’s thesis on the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium galatheanum (Karlodinium micrum) under the supervision of FJR ‘Max’ Taylor. She worked for four years on a salmon farm in Kyuquot Sound, on the north-west side of Vancouver Island; there she developed and ran a plankton monitoring program for the company and also learnt the ins and outs of salmon aquaculture. In 1999 Nicky was approached by JNC ‘Ian’ Whyte of DFO to aid in the start-up of the Harmful Algae Monitoring Program (HAMP) with BC salmon farmers. She has been Program Manager and Senior Phytoplankton Analyst of HAMP since then, which has been run through Microthalassia / Nixy Consulting since 2004, when Ian Whyte retired from DFO. In order to help solidify her HAB knowledge, Nicky has completed the Certificate of Proficiency in Identification of Harmful Marine Microalgae from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO at the University of Copenhagen. Nicky remains committed to the field of harmful algae in her role as the current Canadian delegate to the Harmful Algal Bloom section of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) and by being an active member of the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae.

The Harmful Algae Monitoring Program began at the Pacific Biological Station in 1999 and is now located at Vancouver Island University. In the twelve years of the program from1999–2010, there were between three and nine finfish aquaculture companies participating, with from 11 to 28 sampling sites around Vancouver Island. The original mandate of HAMP was basically threefold: analysis of weekly samples to back up farm sampling; establishing sampling protocols to give an industry-wide standard; and the education of farm staff in phytoplankton identification and sampling.

Weekly samples are collected from the HAMP sites and analyzed for the presence of harmful phytoplankton, dominant phytoplankton species or group, and overall phytoplankton biomass level. In addition, the approximate percentage of biomass in each of five constituent groups (diatoms, dinoflagellates, raphidophytes, other flagellates, and zooplankton) is noted, and counts are done of any harmful species present and the dominant phytoplankton species. These data have been used to establish a long-term database, which is now more comprehensive than any other phytoplankton species database in BC. A series of reports are produced, with Annual Reports providing an overview of the year in phytoplankton on the west coast of Canada.

Select Presentation(s) / Publication(s):

Brown, Tamara; Haigh, Nicola; and Johnson, Devan, “Interannual variation of the toxic raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo inDeparture Bay (Nanaimo): data from the harmful algae monitoring program 2001-2017” (2018).Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. 91.https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2018ssec/allsessions/91

Haigh, Nicky & Brown, Tamara N. V. & Johnson, Devan. (2016). Pseudo-nitzschia species and domoic acid on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 2015. 10.13140/RG.2.2.32084.50563.

Haigh, Nicky & Brown, Tamara N. V. & Johnson, Devan. (2016). Pseudo-nitzschia species and domoic acid on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 2015. 10.13140/RG.2.2.32084.50563.

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