Capacity Building to Address Ocean Change: Organizing Across Communities of Place, Practice and Governance to Achieve Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Resilience in Oregon

Abstract

Fossil fuel combustion and related accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and oceans have contributed significantly to climate and ocean change. While coastal upwelling is responsible for the incredible diversity and productivity that has fueled iconic West Coast wild fisheries and ecosystems, it also is the source of extremes in OAH impacts, especially during the late summer (e.g., Chan et al. 2019). While upwelled waters of the California Current Ecosystem are typically low in dissolved oxygen (DO), high in dissolved CO2 and thus more acidified, the chemical balance of upwelled waters has notably changed in recent decades. Ocean absorption of atmospheric CO2 and other ocean changes are resulting in upwelled waters lower or more acidified in pH, higher in CO2 and further depressed in dissolved oxygen (DO) (e.g., Chan et al. 2019). As a result, the West Coast of North America is now considered a hotspot of ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH). Even as ocean conditions are predicted to change further over the coming decades (e.g., Ekstrom et al. 2015; Hodgson et al. 2018), Oregon and the West Coast are experiencing ocean changes today and expecting further trends in shifting ocean food webs (e.g., Marshall et al. 2017; Xiu et al. 2018), loss of fishery productivity (e.g., Lomonico et al. 2021; Haugen et al. 2021), and reduced economic opportunity for ocean-dependent businesses (e.g., Doney et al. 2020; Hoelting and Burkardt 2017). This paper focuses on identifiable actions that human communities are taking in reaction to ocean change to mitigate these increasingly apparent impacts. Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, located in Netarts Bay, Oregon, was among the first places in the world to experience direct impacts from ocean acidification (OA) starting in 2006/2007 (Barton et al. 2015). At that time the hatchery was suddenly unable to reliably produce Pacific oyster larvae (Magallana gigas), with production reduced by over 75% (Barton et al. 2015). As a result, oyster seed supply became limited from Alaska to California, threatening the West Coast’s $270 million dollar oyster growing industry (Northern Economics, Inc. 2013). In response, Oregon