Rising ocean acidity sends BC oyster and scallop production into a tailspin
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Quartz] by Gwynn Guilford Dec 16, 2014
The pristine, sheltered sounds off Vancouver Island, British Columbia, offer the cleanliness and protection ideal for farming oysters, clam, scallops, and other shellfish. Since the 1970s, the industry has grown so rapidly that the area once supplied nearly two-fifths of Canada’s farmed shellfish and is the coastal community’s economic backbone.
But something is killing them off. In the last two years, nine-tenths of baby oysters have died in Desolation Sound farms (the normal mortality rate is about 50%). Scallop farmers off Vancouver Island have reported mass die-offs of their hatchlings since 2010. British Columbia’s share of Canada’s aquaculture industry is in a tailspin.
Further down the coast, the US’s $270-million Pacific Northwest shellfish industry is teetering following the mysterious 2008 oyster die-off.
Scientists aren’t sure what the culprit is. Environmental stressors are rising...
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