West Coast shellfish farms impacted by ocean acidification

West Coast shellfish growers have learned to work around upwellings of corrosive waters and save the lives of their bivalve stocks.

Increased levels of carbon dioxide, or CO2, in the atmosphere are changing the chemistry of the oceans, making it more acidic. The CO2 surge stems mostly from coal and, to a lesser degree, oil-fired power plants. The resulting off kilter acidity reduces carbonate, the mineral building block of shells, skeletons and corals.

In 2005, oystermen first noticed failures in natural sets in Willipa Bay in southern Puget Sound, followed by failures at two of four of the region’s major shellfish hatcheries.

Community shifts and productivity changes in the Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean exerts an exceptionally large influence on the marine carbon cycle and likely played a key role in glacial-interglacial atmospheric CO2 transitions. CO2-related changes in environmental conditions, both directly through ocean seawater acidification and indirectly via increasing thermal stratification, are expected to be particularly pronounced in high latitudes and hence provide the possibility for strong feedbacks on atmospheric CO2. Despite these implications, little information is currently available on the potential CO2 sensitivity of Southern Ocean phytoplankton.