Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The Baby Oyster in the Coal Mine


I had one of those moments when you realize that we are in big trouble yesterday when, at a Board of Agriculture meeting,  a petitioner for a routine permit to import Kumamoto oysters mentioned that the reason he has a viable business hatching oysters here in Hawaii is that the sea-water on the West Coast has become too acidified to support healthy baby oysters.  Evidently the acidity interferes with the oyster hatchlingsʻ ability to form calcium into a structurally sound shell.    Itʻs a business opportunity for some aquaculturists in Hawaii, but thatʻs the silver lining on a big, black cloud that is looming over all of us. 



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