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Courtesy of SeafoodSource.com:

News out of Maine last week showed that the potentially harmful impacts of ocean acidification (OA) are catching the attention of lawmakers, who may be the last line of defense for shellfish and for those who make their living harvesting and selling them.

A USD 3 million (EUR 2.65 million) bond bill doesn’t seem like a big commitment to address what is a global problem, nor do any of the other three bills proposed in the state legislature. But several Maine lawmakers recognize that the seafood industry is essential to the state’s economy, with annual lobster sales alone exceeding USD 1 billion thanks to strong catches in recent years. That they’re willing to send forth legislation is a strong indicator of progress that sometimes only comes when dollar signs are at risk.

Rep. Mick Devin told the Bangor Daily News that the loss of lobsters and clams would lead to the loss of tourism, Maine’s No. 1 revenue generator. “No one comes to the Maine coast to eat a chicken sandwich,” said Devin, who’s also a marine biologist at the University of Maine, whose work focuses on aquaculture.

The research funds would go toward OA monitoring along the Maine coast, while other proposed bills are looking into ways to limit runoff pollution, another leading cause.

Some fear the impacts of OA in the Gulf of Maine and the seafood industry in New England could be drastic. The Island Institute in Maine says that pH levels there are 30 times more acidic than before the Industrial Revolution. The water temperatures there are already rising faster than 99 percent of the rest of the world’s oceans. With fish landings shifting over the past three decades (cod way down, lobster way up), it’s clear that the ecosystem is in flux and in need of protection.

A handful of people closest to OA and its effects on marine life — many of which are difficult to see — will be sharing their knowledge and expertise at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit this week in New Orleans, La., USA. A panel discussion led by Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish in Shelton, Wash., will also take a look into the differences we can taste.

Sam Dupont of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, whose research made headlines recently, says 50 percent of all tested marine animals are negatively impacted by OA. A study he released last December showed that shrimp put into tanks of sea water with lower pH levels (more acidic water) looked and tasted worse.

Dupont will not physically be in New Orleans, but a short film he’s produced will be shown during the session titled Strategies to Protect Seafood Supplies from Ocean Acidification on Monday, 9 February at 3:45 p.m. CST.

That OA can not only hamper shellfish species’ odds of survival years down the road but also modulate the sensory quality (taste) of shrimp in a relatively short amount of time spent in acidic water — 7.5 pH, the level that many experts predict could be the measurement of the world’s oceans by 2100 — really hits home and brings the issue from the laboratory into your kitchen.

OA appears to be the oceans’ greatest challenge to date, and perhaps the most challenging to solve. Elected officials should recognize that and put ocean health on the front burner by supporting research that will bring clarity and purpose to efforts to mitigate what some have termed the “souring” of productive marine waters.