Highly Acidic Water = Low Scallop Harvest

The increasing acidity of West Coast waters is reported to have caused the deaths of 10 million scallops near Qualicum Beach in today’s Vancouver Sun. High acidity, due to the absorption of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions, has pushed the pH of local water from an average of 8.2 as low as 7.2. A decrease in pH makes it more difficult for baby scallops to build a protective shell, making them more vulnerable to predators and infections. As a result, Island Scallops in Nanaimo has closed its processing plant and laid off almost one third of its work force.
Read more about this increasing concern on the West Coast here.
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