The famous Sydney rock oyster is shrinking as oceans become more acidic, new research showed.
In news that will rock seafood lovers, a study released by academics in the UK found oysters in New South Wales (NSW) have become smaller and fewer in number because of coastal acidification. It is part of what researchers fear is a worldwide trend driven by climate change and coastal runoff.
Headed by University of Stirling research fellow Susan Fitzer, the study looked at oyster leases at Wallis Lake and Port Stephens, both on the coast north of Sydney. They make up the two largest Sydney rock oyster production areas in NSW.
The study found the oysters’ diminishing size and falling population is due to acidification from land and sea sources, part of a global trend.
“Sydney rock oysters are becoming smaller and their population is decreasing as a result of coastal acidification,” Fitzer said.
“The first thing consumers will notice is smaller oysters, mussels and other molluscs on their plates, but if ocean acidification and coastal acidification are exacerbated by future climate change and sea level rise, this could have a huge impact on commercial aquaculture and populations around the world,” she said.
The risk to oyster populations around the globe from soil runoff has long been recognized.
In 2014, oyster farmers in Port Stephens released an industry-driven environmental management policy which recognized that damage to oyster leases from the drainage from acid-sulphate soils was both “likely” to occur and “severe” in consequence.
However, Fitzer’s research argues that runoff is not caused by agricultural activity and is rather the consequence of the impacts of climate change.
“A lot of work has been done near to Australia’s oyster fisheries to mitigate the impact of sulphate soils causing acidification, and there has been a marked decline in levels,” she said.
“The runoff from sulfate soils aren’t produced by agricultural activity, they occur as a natural result of climate change-driven increases in rainfall and sea-level rise,” she said. “But the trend persists and small changes in pH are having a huge impact on these molluscs.”
Increased acidification affects oyster growth by limiting the amount of carbonate in the water.
“Acidic water is damaging oysters’ ability to grow their shells. We see lots of disorder in the calcite layers, because there isn’t enough carbonate in the water for the oysters to draw on for optimal shell formation and growth,” Fitzer said.
The issue is not confined to Australian oyster production.
Ocean acidification has been reported globally, while coastal acidification from the land, as freshwater runoff from acid sulfate soils, is driven by rising sea levels and flooding also decreases environmental pH.
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