1 poisoning,” which induces symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, and other 2 gastrointestinal upset, permanent short-term memory loss, and, in severe cases, death. 58. 3 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has established a domoic acid 4 action level in Dungeness crab viscera of 30 parts per million (“ppm”). Above that action level, 5 crab is considered “adulterated” and illegal to sell. California and Oregon both adhere to that action 6 level and impose precautionary measures when crabs in those states contain domoic acid at levels 7 exceeding the action level. 59. 8 9 10 Members of the algal genus Pseudo-nitzschia thrive in warming oceans.27 In particular, Pseudo-nitzschia australis increases its growth rate, photosynthesis, and toxigenicity in warmer water temperatures.28 60. 11 In late 2013, a sea surface temperature anomaly developed in the Northeastern 12 Pacific Ocean, including along the California coast. Eventually dubbed “the Blob” by scientists,29 13 this mass of warm water would persist through 2016,30 extend from Alaska to Mexico,31 and 14 feature positive temperature anomalies of greater than 4.5º F—more than three standard deviations 15 above the expected sea surface temperature in the area.32 61. 16 17 Conditions within the Blob were characterized by unusually warm waters, particularly before the initiation of the upwelling season.33 62. 18 The conditions brought by the Blob favored Pseudo-nitzschia and allowed small 19 seed populations to become established, specifically in those temperature ranges present along the 20 California coast.34 21 27 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 SHER EDLING LLP Zhi Zhu et al., Understanding the blob bloom: Warming increases toxicity and abundance of the harmful bloom diatom Pseudo-Nitzschia in California Coastal Waters, 67 HARMFUL ALGAE 36, 36 (2017). 28 Id. 29 See Nicholas A. Bond et al., Causes and impacts of the 2014 warm anomaly in the NE Pacific, GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 42, 3414 (May 5, 2015). 30 See Dr. Raphael Kudela, California Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture Hearing Testimony (Oct. 4, 2016) (Blob persisted into July 2016, causing late Pseudo-nitzschia bloom). 31 Di Lorenzo & Mantua, supra note 3, at 1. 32 See Bond et al., supra note 29, at 3414. 33 “Upwelling” is the phenomenon by which the Northwest winds blowing out of the Gulf of Alaska displace surface water and bring cooler, nutrient-rich water from depth. This annual phenomenon is the principal reason that the California Current ecosystem is among the most productive, diverse marine ecosystems on the planet. 34 Id. COMPLAINT 32