The Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery on the state\u2019s north coast watched oyster larvae die en masse for three years in a row in the mid-2000s \u2014 depriving oyster farms along the entire West Coast of seed oysters.<\/p>\n
Florence crabber Al Pazar saw baby octopuses, an inch or two long, climb up his crab lines to escape the sea waters in the 2005 season. When he pulled up his pots, the crab were dead.<\/p>\n
Eugene fisherman Ryan Rogers, who drags in great piles of salmon on an Alaska purse seiner, has instead brought up nets full of jellyfish in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we\u2019ll catch 4,000 or 5,000 pounds of jellyfish. They spray all around. We get stung,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes it difficult to bring your net in. You have to let it go and lose the salmon that are in your net.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scientists \u2014 including many at Oregon State University \u2014 are beginning to define the cause of these events. They call it ocean acidification and hypoxia.<\/p>\n
Wind, currents and ocean chemistry conspire to create pools of corrosive waters that can be lethal to key commercial species in Northwest waters \u2014 and favorable to some nuisance species, such as jellyfish. …<\/p>\n
The Eugene Register-Guard examines what OSU scientists – some of them working with Oregon Sea Grant funding – are learning about the causes and consequences of ocean acidification.<\/p>\n
The Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery on the state\u2019s north coast watched oyster larvae die en masse for three years in a row in the mid-2000s \u2014 depriving oyster farms along the entire West Coast of seed oysters. Florence crabber Al … Continue reading