Increasingly Acidic Seas Threaten Oyster Farming
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Eighteen years ago, farmed oyster larvae began disappearing in mass die-offs, mystifying hatchery managers in the Pacific Northwest and threatening a thriving part of the region’s economy.
Up to 90 percent of the farmed Pacific oysters — the backbone of the industry — were being wiped out. Businesses like Taylor Shellfish Farms, the country’s largest grower now run by the fifth generation of the Taylor family, stood at the brink of catastrophe.
“It was a crisis, the industry was going to collapse,” said Bill Dewey, a spokesman for Taylor Shellfish Farms based in Shelton, Wash...
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