Research by Hakai Institute has discovered a link between the intensity of storm seasons and ocean acidification levels the following summer, a finding that could help shellfish producers in the future.
Wiley Evans and 18 other researchers from Hakai and other institutions studied measurements taken over an eight year period in the Northern Strait of Georgia and found that ocean acidification varied depending on how intense the storm season had been.
Evans says this means information can be provided ahead of time – much like a forecast – for seawater conditions.
“Potentially vulnerable industries like the shellfish industry, for instance, might be able to keep that in mind when they are making their plans for the coming season.”
He says they discovered that a weak storm season changed the conditions in the water column the next summer, making it “more corrosive for calcium carbonate minerals,” but the reverse was observed following an intense storm season.
Carbonic acid is formed when CO2 is absorbed by seawater, making it more corrosive to calcium carbonate, the stuff seashells are made of.
Ocean acidification is rising because of higher CO2 levels in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels.
Evans says levels of OA that are potentially harmful are here now and the provincial government needs to be thinking about adaptation and mitigation.
He says stabilizing atmospheric CO2 is the way to stabilize the rate of ocean acidification and prevent things from getting much worse.
In the meantime, Evans says we need to be thinking more about mitigation strategies, and there may be management tactics at the farm level that could be of benefit.
Provincial government statistics show that in 2022, nearly $400 million worth of shellfish was exported from British Columbia.
