Squaxin Island Tribe presentation to CCA Capitol City
Bill Dewey presentation on ocean acidification
1. Preliminary
lessons
from
the
oyster
“seed
crisis”
What
can
the
rest
of
the
seafood
industry
learn
from
the
first
producers
to
suffer
(and
partly
overcome)
severe
impacts
associated
with
“corrosive”
high-‐CO2
seawater?
Taylor
Shellfish
hatchery
on
Dabob
Bay,
Washington
By
Brad
Warren
2. Taylor
&
Whiskey
Creek
• TAYLOR
SHELLFISH
FARMS:
Largest
U.S.
shellfish
grower.
~12,000
acres
under
culOvaOon
(owned
or
leased)
in
Washington,
Mexico,
BriOsh
Columbia,
a
pearl
farm
in
Fiji.
Two
company-‐owned
hatcheries
(Hawaii,
Washington)
supply
its
own
farms.
• Whiskey
Creek
Shellfish
Hatchery:
largest
oyster
seed
supplier
on
West
Coast,
supplies
~75%
of
farms.
• Together,
they
provide
lion’s
share
of
producOon
on
West
Coast.
3. Oyster
seed
crisis
arrives
Pacific
oyster
larvae
fail
L:
Pacific
oyster
larvae
growing
at
Taylor.
Billions
of
these
were
lost.
R:
Larval
clams
dissolve
at
pH
7.5
in
lab
(Green)
70-‐80%
loss
of
producOon
in
2007-‐2008
at
both
major
hatcheries.
At
Whiskey
Creek,
oyster
larvae
dissolved,
vanished
in
tanks.
Even
hard-‐fouling
of
intake
pipes
ceased.
Li]le
or
no
commercial-‐scale
wild
“set”
of
oysters
in
Willapa
Bay
since
2005.
Industry
hunts
for
culprits:
vibrio
tubiashi?
4. Paradigm
shiH
Feely
et
al
2008
Researchers
at
Whiskey
Creek
(Barton,
others)
confirm
strong
link
to
larval
death.
5. How
hatcheries
rebounded
(for
now)
• Whiskey
Creek
is
near
peak
producOon
levels
through
July
2010,
by
dodging
frequent
episodes
of
“bad
water,”
working
overOme
to
produce
in
“good
water”
periods.
• Taylor
also
going
strong
through
July
2010,
enjoying
“good
water”
from
shallow
intake
(30
d);
but
deep
intake
(100
d)
now
yields
high
CO2
levels
that
they
avoid.
• Two
criNcal
tools
enabled
this
rebound:
6. 1.
Monitoring
&
research
If
you
can
see
what’s
coming
at
you,
you
can
dodge
New
monitoring
systems,
OOS
buoys
permit
frequent
sampling
of
water
quality
parameters
(e.g.
pCO2,
pH):
Hatcheries
avoid
spawning
in
high-‐CO2
water.
Bioassays,
calcificaOon
studies,
physiological
&
geneOc
analyses
underway
at
several
labs.
7. 1.
A
well-‐defended
posiNon
Hatcheries
Control
of
most
vulnerable
life-‐
stage
enabled
them
to
defend
larvae
<
120
microns.
8. Industry’s
three-‐Phase
response
1) Short
term:
monitoring
&
research
enable
producers
to
dodge
“bad
water.”
(operaOons
+
policy)
2) Medium
term:
culOvate
more
resilient
broodstock.
(operaOons
+
policy)
3)
Long-‐term:
promote
policies
to
reduce
emissions,
strengthen
research
&
monitoring
(policy)
9. STEP
1
Monitoring
in
order
to
avoid
exposure
to
“bad
water.”
Sensors:
pH,
T,
S,
depth,
turbidity
10. pCO2
readout
at
100
d:
~1,000
ppm
Taylor’s
deepwater
intake:
pH
here
measured
~
7.5
At
Whiskey
Creek,
pCO2
is
now
key
predictor
of
larval
survival.
For
gigas
larvae
in
first
2
days,
hatchery
owners
say
200-‐300
ppm
is
opOmal,
with
low
end
best;
older
larvae
can
handle
up
to
400
ppm.
“Over
600
we
back
off.”
(Wiegardt,
pers.
comm
with
BW
7.27.2010)
11. pCO2
at
30
d:
332
ppm
Taylor’s
shallow
water
intake:
pH
here
measured
~8.2
To
avoid
high
CO2
water,
Taylor
mainly
now
relies
on
shallow
intake
for
oysters.
This
increases
exposure
to
algal
blooms,
etc,
which
were
the
reason
they
developed
a
deepwater
intake
at
100
d.
Now
elevated
CO2
is
pushing
Taylor
to
risk
that
exposure,
esp.
for
young
Pacific
oyster
(c.
Gigas)
12. Managing
around
the
problem
SPAWN!
•
Put
small
larvae
into
tanks
filled
in
the
aHernoon
or
overnight
-‐
Works
if
the
sun
is
out
•
24
hour
noOce-‐
Upwelling
takes
a
day
or
two
to
start
up,
so
when
winds
from
the
North,
fill
tanks
late
in
the
day
and
spawn
like
crazy
DON’T
Slide:
Alan
Barton
SPAWN!
13. Step
2:
breeding
for
resistance
Broodstock
research
has
increased
oyster
yield
in
the
past
(see
graph):
Can
it
help
now?
Molluscan
Broodstock
Program
at
OSU
increased
oyster
yield
(sum
of
survival
+
growth)
by
41%
over
2
generaOons.
Can
broodstock
work
boost
resistance
to
high
CO2?
Preliminary
signs
of
promise:
a
few
families
show
be]er
resistance;
OSU
MBP
some
species
too
(Olympia).
Growth
rates,
yields,
quality?
14. Step
3:
Policy
engagement
• Key
aims
:
Support
research
&
monitoring,
protect
producOvity.
• Oyster
producers
talk
to
Congress
about
acidificaOon,
need
for
research;
some
support
prevenOve
emissions-‐reducOon
policies.
• Sen.
Cantwell
secures
$500,000
for
hatchery
retrofits,
including
monitoring.
• HR
989:
Taylor
&
others
worked
it,
got
58%
yes
vote.
• OOS
systems
beginning
to
monitor
pCO2
etc,
15. ImplicaOons
for
seafood
industry
• ProducNve
zones
are
most
vulnerable:
highly
enriched
seawater
closer
“Opping
points.”
• First
blow
can
hit
hard:
70-‐80%
loss
of
producOon
in
2007-‐2008
at
two
major
hatcheries
(supplying
lion’s
share
of
producOon).
• Technical
and
poliNcal
savvy
allowed
shellfish
industry
to
meet
the
challenge:
Taylor,
Whiskey
Creek
found
ways
to
dodge
impacts,
win
needed
scienOfic
&
poliOcal
support,
and
rebuild
producOon
(for
now).
Other
growers,
reliant
on
Whiskey
Creek,
pitched
in.
PoliOcians
too.
(3
Congressmen
a]ended
our
workshop
in
March).
• Impacts
are
uneven:
Species,
families,
&
local
environmental
condiOons
can
either
miOgate
or
aggravate
effects.
• Victory
probably
temporary:
ConOnued
rise
in
emissions
more
trouble
ahead:
more
severe
acidificaOon,
likely
wider
impacts.
16. Thanks.
• Benoit
Eudeline
&
Bill
Dewey
at
Taylor
Shellfish
Farms.
• Mark
Wiegardt,
Sue
Cudd,
Alan
Barton
at
Whiskey
Creek.
• Richard
Feely,
Vicky
Fabry,
Joanie
Kleypas,
Jeremy
Mathis,
Sco]
Doney,
Mark
Green,
Jeff
and
many
others.
• Bulli]
&
Oak
foundaOons,
Rockefeller
Brothers
Fund,
other
donors.