WiLD Blog

        Oysters have long since been a favorite for many people around the country, and due to a plentiful crop indulgence has been promoted.  In fact The Los Angeles Times reports that oysters have, pound-for-pound, outweighed any other aquaculture crop in the world at 4.5 million tons per year. Unfortunately, this plethora of our savory crustacean friend may soon be dwindling dramatically.

        Through ideal gene identification and selective breeding science has enabled farmers to grow bigger more resistant oysters than ever before.  They have even been successfully breading oysters without reproductive organs to maximize meat quantity and quality.  While scientists have been working hard on how to make the adults bigger and stronger they have neglected the vulnerabilities of the young free swimming larvae.

        Bacteria called Vibrio Tubiashii, dwells in the depths of the decaying biomass and with upwelling rises to the surface and switches its source of sustenance to the young oysters and ultimately killing them.  Over the past couple years this bacteria population has exploded in the estuaries of the pacific. Scientists accredit these population explosions to climate change.  Unlike many bacteria Vibrio Tubiashii makes its home in waters with low oxygen levels.  As winds have strengthened and water temperatures have increased this bacteria has found itself a niche feeding on young oysters in many of the inlets in costal regions.

        Though Vibrio Tubiashii is not harmful to humans it has dramatically reduced the oyster abundance over the past couple of years, and within the next few years, when these oysters would typically be harvested, we will find that our oysters are not available.  Shellfish growers up and down the coast have had the same problem, and have had to dismiss as much as ¾ of their usual crop.  LA times reports that this may lead to the economic upheaval of a $110 million-a-year shellfish industry.

        Researchers at Oregon State’s experimental hatchery have requested emergency funding from congress to find a solution to this problem, and have been experimenting with the use of UV light in filtering bacteria from the farming waters.  This technique has dramatically increased the crop for farmers in Oregon and production has become manageable again.  The introductions of natural viral and bacterial predators to Vibrio Tubiashii are also being explored as a possibility in population reduction for shellfish farmers.

       Climate change has once again proven itself to be a challenge in the maintenance of our way of life, and we have yet again conflicted nature. Problems such as this are believed to only increase in number, and I believe that as these problems arise they need to be approached with caution. It has become of increasing importance that as we restore ecosystems we are aware of any negative side effects that our solutions may cause. It is my thought that as responsible stewards of our planet we need to make sure we pay attention to our intervention.

A Report on The Los Angeles Times article: A warning from the sea 
by Ian Hyp