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Study Committee Calls for Maine to Act on Ocean Acidification

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Portland Press Herald, Dec 2nd, 2014 By Kevin Miller

A report to legislators says more research and local efforts are needed to deal with the threat to shellfish, including lobsters and clams.

AUGUSTA — Maine should increase research and monitoring into how rising acidity levels in oceans could harm the state’s valuable commercial fisheries while taking additional steps to reduce local pollution that can affect water chemistry.

Those are two major recommendations of a state commission charged with assessing the potential effects of ocean acidification on lobster, clams and other shellfish. The Legislature created the commission this year in response to concerns that, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen, the oceans have become 30 percent more acidic because oceans absorb the gas.

Researchers are concerned that organisms that form shells – everything from Maine’s iconic lobster to shrimp and the tiny plankton that are key links in the food chain – could find it more difficult to produce calcium carbonate for shells in more acidic seawater. They worry that the acidification could intensify as carbon levels rise and the climate warms.

Although research on Maine-specific species is limited, the commission of scientists, fishermen, lawmakers and LePage administration officials said the findings are “already compelling” enough to warrant action at the state and local level.

“While scientific research on the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems and individual organisms is still in its infancy, Maine’s coastal communities need not wait for a global solution to address a locally exacerbated problem that is compromising their marine environment,” according to an unofficial version of the report unanimously endorsed by commission members Monday.

The panel’s report will be presented to the Legislature after Monday’s final edits are incorporated. Those recommendations include:

• Work with the federal government, fishermen, environmental groups and trained citizens to actively monitor acidity changes in the water or sediments, and organisms’ response to those changes.

• Conduct more research across various species and age groups to get a better sense of how acidification is affecting the ecosystem.

• Identify ways to further reduce local and regional emissions of carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas produced by the combustion of fossil fuels – and to reduce runoff of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients that can contribute to acidification.

• Reduce the impact of acidification through natural methods, such as increasing the amount of photosynthesizing marine vegetation like eelgrass and kelp, promoting production of filter-feeding shellfish operations, and spreading pulverized shells in mudflats with high acidity.

• Create an ongoing ocean acidification council to monitor the situation, recommend additional steps and educate the public. This recommendation is the only concrete legislative proposal contained within the report.

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East Coast’s First Ocean Acidification Bill Becomes Law

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Maine Legislature Press Release April 30th, 2014

AUGUSTA – The East Coast’s first measure to address the threat of ocean acidification became law Wednesday.

“Maine is taking the lead on ocean acidification on the Eastern seaboard. We understand just how dangerous it is to our marine environment, jobs and way of life,” said Rep. Mick Devin, D-Newcastle, the bill’s sponsor and a marine biologist. “We will address this threat head-on and find ways to protect our marine resources and economies.”

LD 1602 became law without the signature of Gov. Paul LePage. It went into effect immediately.

The measure would establish a commission to study and address the negative effects of ocean acidification on the ecosystem and major inshore shellfisheries. The committee membership would be made up of stakeholders including fishermen, aquaculturists, scientists and legislators.

“We who work on the ocean observe the day to day effects of small changes in climate and the destruction caused by such things as ocean acidification,” said Richard Nelson, a fisherman from Friendship. “We are solely dependent on a resource that must be managed intelligently and effectively in order for it to remain healthy and available to us.”

Rising levels of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use are causing changes in ocean chemistry. As carbon dioxide and seawater combine, carbonic acid forms. Carbonic acid can dissolve the shells of shellfish, an important commercial marine resource. Over the past two centuries, ocean acidity levels have increased 30 percent.

If left unchecked, ocean acidification could cause major losses to shellfisheries like clams, oysters, lobsters, shrimp and sea urchins and put at risk thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the state’s economy.

“We’re glad to see Maine leading on this issue,” said Rob Snyder, president of the Island Institute, which helped draft the legislation. “The industries that will be affected by ocean acidification employ thousands of Mainers – especially in island and coastal communities – and they contribute $1 billion to our state’s economy. It’s critical to learn more about the solutions to ocean acidification that will protect those jobs.”

Shellfish hatcheries on the West Coast have failed in recent years due to 60 to 80 percent production losses caused by ocean chemistry changes, which can take place quickly. A 2007 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration discovered changes in ocean chemistry not expected for another 50 to 100 years on the West Coast.

Devin’s bill is one of the key legislative issues of the Environmental Priorities Coalition this year. The coalition cited research that found the Gulf of Maine is more susceptible to the effects of ocean acidification than other parts of the East Coast.

Bill calls for Maine panel to study acid in Gulf

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January 14th, 2014
By North Caim, Portland Press Herald

Speakers at Monday’s hearing say increased carbon dioxide and acid are imperiling shellfish stocks and costing Maine jobs and millions of dollars.

AUGUSTA — Lawmakers are considering a bill that would establish the first formal state commission to study the effects of rising levels of acid in the Gulf of Maine.

Representatives of virtually every Maine fishery – as well as state officials, scientists, the recreation, tourism and wastewater treatment industries, environmentalists, private citizens and lawmakers – packed a public hearing Monday before the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee to advocate for L.D. 1602, which would set up an 11-member commission.

No one testified against the bill.

The commission would study the Gulf of Maine’s increasing acidic waters and seek methods to ease the problem and correct its ill effects, said Rep. Michael Devin, D-Newcastle, who introduced the measure with the support from more than 60 co-sponsors.

Ocean acidification – or the increasing percentage of acid in the ocean waters – has been a growing concern along the coastal U.S., marine scientists have reported.

The commission’s work could be underway by spring if the bill is approved by the Legislature and Gov. Paul LePage. The entire cost is not expected to exceed $25,000 in public and private funding.

Devin said it was impossible to say exactly how much acidification already has hurt fisheries and other businesses, including charter tours and whale-watching boats, that operate in the Gulf of Maine. But if acidification has a significant impact on the lobster industry, the costs to the state’s largest fishery would be substantial, he said.

“If the lobster industry is affected, that’s a billion dollars right there,” said Devin, a member of the Marine Resources Committee.

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