\u201cThe idea is to find out, how will ocean acidification\u00a0affect aquaculture and wild fish?\u201d said Christopher Bridges, zoology professor at the university of Dusseldorf.<\/p>\n It is hoped larvae scooped from five tanks at Nofima\u2019s national cod breeding center will soon yield some clues.<\/p>\n Each tank contained 60 cod broodstock averaging 3-5 kilos in size, exposed to different levels of temperatures and acidity. The fish spawned March and April, and\u00a0their larvae, which hatched in the past two weeks,\u00a0are currently being tested.<\/p>\n \u201cThe key aspect will be to look at the larvae\u2019s survival rate,\u201d said Bridges.<\/p>\n If global warming continues as some scientists think, the oceans\u2019 CO2 levels could reach 1,000 to 1,200 ppm (parts per million) by 2100, up from just under 400ppm today.<\/p>\n That would take the seas\u2019 pH level down to 7.8, from 8.1 today.<\/p>\n Most the research into the seas\u2019 growing acidity has focused on the impact on fish eggs or larvae, or on habitats. But few have so far focused on its impact on broodstock, said Bridges.<\/p>\n Bridges is one of the scientists involved in the project, which is led by the publicly-funded\u00a0German\u00a0Bioacid initiative. Cooperating in the project are Germany\u2019s Geomar and Alfred Wegner Institute, working in Norway under the EU FP7 support project Aquaexcel using the facilities of\u00a0Nofima.<\/p>\n In two of the tanks, the cod were kept at normal acidity levels (400ppm), but one tank had a temperature of 5 degrees Celcius, and the other 10 degrees. In two other tanks, the fish were exposed to CO2 levels of 1,200 ppm, again with one tank at 5 degrees and the other at 10 degrees.<\/p>\n These four tanks all used broodstock from farmed fish, bred by Nofima\u2019s center. A fifth tank was filled with fish from the wild, but\u00a0these were caught too late to be used for the experiment.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" May 8th, 2014, By\u00a0Eva Tallaksen, undercurrentnews.com Scientists in Tromso, Norway, are exposing cod broodstock to high CO2 to find out how the fish will cope as the seas get warmer, and more acidic. \u201cThe idea is to find out, how … Continue reading ![\"cod](\"http:\/\/globaloceanhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cod-in-high-co2.jpg\")
<\/a>Scientists in Tromso, Norway, are exposing cod broodstock to high CO2 to find out how the fish will cope as the seas get warmer, and more acidic.<\/p>\n