Acidity on the half shell: town hall tackles ocean acidification

As carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere continue to rise as a result of our burning fossil fuels, the water in our oceans is becoming more acidic. The results can be devastating for BC’s farmed shellfish, which rely on a certain chemical makeup in the water to build and maintain their shells.

University of Victoria oceanographer Ken Denman will explore ocean acidification and its implications for local communities in a panel conversation on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in UVic’s David Turpin Building. The event is free and open to the public.

“We’ve already seen mass die-offs of farmed scallops with a link to decreasing pH levels in the Pacific,” says Denman. “Pteropods, a primary food source for salmon, mackerel and cod, as well as our local cold water corals, are also affected.”

Denman joins Doug Wallace, a pioneering researcher of the ocean carbon system with the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR); the University of Washington’s Jan Newton, an expert in acidification conditions along the coast; and Jean Pierre Gattuso from the National Centre for Scientific Research in France who has set up an international coordination centre for ocean acidification research efforts. The discussion will be moderated by Kate Moran, president and CEO of UVic’s Ocean Networks Canada.

This public talk kicks off an Ocean Acidification Expert Forum Feb. 18-19 in Victoria. Researchers from across the country will converge in Victoria to establish a way forward for a Canadian effort to address and respond to the impacts of ocean acidification.

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