Oysters, clams, mussels, crabs, shrimps, squids, fish, coral, plankton and just about all sea life are persnickety when it comes to survival; slight changes in the acidity of their environment can be the difference between life and death.
Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of our planet’s oceans and it’s caused by humans. Between 30 to 40 percent of the carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere ends up in the water and forms carbonic acid, which increases the ocean’s acidity, which affects all sorts of critters under the sea.
And it’s not looking good. According to estimates, over the past 250 years ocean acidification has increased by almost 30 percent. While 250 years sounds like a really long time, it’s really not that long in the big picture. The current rate of acidification is 10 times faster than at any time in the past 50 million years. This means ocean acidity will increase by 100 to 150 percent by the end of the 21st century.
This is all very bad news for the entire planet, of course, but when you take into account that Washington’s shellfish industry is the nation’s top provider of farmed oysters, clams and mussels, generating $270 million annually and supporting 3,200 jobs, it’s particularly bad news for our state.
To address the issue, this year the Legislature passed SB 5603, establishing the Washington Ocean Acidification Council, and included $1.82 million in the operating budget for the University of Washington to set up a center on ocean acidification. The center’s main goals are to help sustain the state’s shellfish industry and maintain healthy ecosystems. To do so, the center will begin carrying out some of the research and monitoring actions recommended in 2012 by then-Gov. Gregoire’s Blue Ribbon Panel on ocean acidification.
This ambitious enterprise to protect marine life is the first state-level action of its kind in the entire nation.