As we think about oyster restoration, ocean acidification often arises as an issue to consider and a potential motivation for moving forward. The oyster shell is made of calcium bicarbonate, the same material as Rolaids, and may be able to offset acidification at a local level. There are reports of oysters being helpful to steamer clams.
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| Barge with oysters |
We reprint this article as it discusses the two different species of oysters on the US Pacific Coast. In Massachusetts, we are working to restore a different species, the Eastern Oyster, crassostrea virginica, which is different. The Eastern Oyster reproduces via the broadcast method.
Coos Bay World
July 31, 2013 8:48 am •
COOS BAY — As a federal research vessel heads out to study the impact of ocean acidification on Pacific marine life, Oregon biologists are reporting both benign and negative impacts on regional shellfish.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dispatched the R/V Fairweather from Seattle on Monday for a month-long cruise to collect water, plankton and algae samples. The agency is concerned that increasing ocean acidity levels attributed to greenhouse gas emissions are threatening marine ecosystems the fisheries they support.
The Oregon coast oyster industry has firsthand experience with the problem.
Several years ago, Netarts Bay’s Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery — which produces much of the oyster seed used by commercial farms in the region — began experiencing a decline in production that Oregon State University researchers traced directly to ocean acidification.
But biologist Steve Rumrill said the future of the South Coast’s native oyster isn’t looking too bad. “The short answer is that the native Olympia oysters may be doing OK and recovering in Coos Bay despite ocean acidification,” he said. Rumrill, currently the director of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish monitoring program, was instrumental in Olympia oyster recovery efforts at the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve near Charleston.
“It may be that the shallow parts of Coos Bay may be able to act sort of as a buffer,” he said.
Oregon State University Professor George Waldbusser said difference in survivability likely lies in the species’ reproductive practices.
“Olympias are brooders,” he said, referring to the species’ trait of carrying eggs in an internal chamber for several weeks after fertilization.
Pacific oysters, on the other hand, are broadcast spawners, meaning their eggs are fertilized and develop in open water.
Waldbusser said the native species’ reproductive period is on the edge of the coast’s seasonal upwelling cycle, when deep ocean currents force cold water to the surface. Upwelling is believed to contribute to the acidification process by bringing oxygen-deprived, CO2-rich acidic water to the ocean’s surface.
As far as Rumrill’s buffer theory, the professor said one of his graduate students is also conducting research on increased production in seagrass habitat in Netarts Bay.
Waldbusser said any findings are likely six months out, at the earliest.
Reporter Thomas Moriarty can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 240, or by email at thomas.moriarty@theworldlink.com.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dispatched the R/V Fairweather from Seattle on Monday for a month-long cruise to collect water, plankton and algae samples. The agency is concerned that increasing ocean acidity levels attributed to greenhouse gas emissions are threatening marine ecosystems the fisheries they support.
The Oregon coast oyster industry has firsthand experience with the problem.
Several years ago, Netarts Bay’s Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery — which produces much of the oyster seed used by commercial farms in the region — began experiencing a decline in production that Oregon State University researchers traced directly to ocean acidification.
But biologist Steve Rumrill said the future of the South Coast’s native oyster isn’t looking too bad. “The short answer is that the native Olympia oysters may be doing OK and recovering in Coos Bay despite ocean acidification,” he said. Rumrill, currently the director of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish monitoring program, was instrumental in Olympia oyster recovery efforts at the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve near Charleston.
“It may be that the shallow parts of Coos Bay may be able to act sort of as a buffer,” he said.
Oregon State University Professor George Waldbusser said difference in survivability likely lies in the species’ reproductive practices.
“Olympias are brooders,” he said, referring to the species’ trait of carrying eggs in an internal chamber for several weeks after fertilization.
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| Olympia Oysters |
Pacific oysters, on the other hand, are broadcast spawners, meaning their eggs are fertilized and develop in open water.
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| Pacific Oyster- note the characteristic wavy shell edge. |
Waldbusser said the native species’ reproductive period is on the edge of the coast’s seasonal upwelling cycle, when deep ocean currents force cold water to the surface. Upwelling is believed to contribute to the acidification process by bringing oxygen-deprived, CO2-rich acidic water to the ocean’s surface.
As far as Rumrill’s buffer theory, the professor said one of his graduate students is also conducting research on increased production in seagrass habitat in Netarts Bay.
Waldbusser said any findings are likely six months out, at the earliest.
Reporter Thomas Moriarty can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 240, or by email at thomas.moriarty@theworldlink.com.
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