By Lee Sherman
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, famous for its delectable fried oysters and succulent steamed clams, is one of several coastal “hot spots” where shellfish are subject to “acidification” — seawater whose chemistry is becoming corrosive because of greenhouse gases. Along with shellfish producers in New England, the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast estuaries like Chesapeake Bay, Oregon’s shellfish industry is at risk, warn OSU researchers George Waldbusser and Burke Hales. Their research has helped Northwest oyster hatcheries rebound from larval die-offs. “Ultimately, however, without curbing carbon emissions, we will eventually run out of tools,” Waldbusser says.