The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Ocean Acidification Hearing
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S. HRG. 111–962 THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION APRIL 22, 2010 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 66–170 PDF WASHINGTON : 2011 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas, Ranking JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada BARBARA BOXER, California JIM DEMINT, South Carolina BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARIA CANTWELL, Washington ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey GEORGE S. LEMIEUX, Florida MARK PRYOR, Arkansas JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri DAVID VITTER, Louisiana AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas TOM UDALL, New Mexico MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska MARK WARNER, Virginia MARK BEGICH, Alaska ELLEN L. DONESKI, Staff Director JAMES REID, Deputy Staff Director BRUCE H. ANDREWS, General Counsel ANN BEGEMAN, Republican Staff Director BRIAN M. HENDRICKS, Republican General Counsel NICK ROSSI, Republican Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chairman OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine, Ranking DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts GEORGE S. LEMIEUX, Florida BARBARA BOXER, California JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey DAVID VITTER, Louisiana MARK BEGICH, Alaska (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on April 22, 2010 .............................................................................. 1 Statement of Senator Cantwell .............................................................................. 1 Statement of Senator Snowe ................................................................................... 3 Statement of Senator Boxer .................................................................................... 5 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 Statement of Senator Lautenberg .......................................................................... 7 Statement of Senator Begich .................................................................................. 52 WITNESSES Sigourney Weaver, Actress ..................................................................................... 9 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 11 Thomas Ingram, Executive Director, Diving Equipment and Marketing Asso- ciation .................................................................................................................... 12 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 14 Donald A. Waters, Commercial Fisherman, Pensacola, Florida .......................... 21 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 23 James P. Barry, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and Member, Committee on Development of an Inte- grated Science Strategy for Ocean Acidification Monitoring, Research, and Impacts Assessment, National Research Council, The National Academies .. 25 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 Dr. John T. Everett ................................................................................................. 32 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 34 APPENDIX Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Olympia J. Snowe to: Thomas Ingram ................................................................................................ 61 Donald A. Waters ............................................................................................. 63 James P. Barry, Ph.D. ...................................................................................... 65 Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker to: James P. Barry, Ph.D. ...................................................................................... 67 Response to written questions submitted to Dr. John T. Everett by: Hon. Olympia J. Snowe .................................................................................... 71 Hon. Roger F. Wicker ....................................................................................... 72 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Maria Cantwell, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL, U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON Senator CANTWELL. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Subcommittee on Oceans and Atmos- phere and Fisheries, Coast Guard, will come to order. Today, we’re having a hearing on the environmental and eco- nomic impacts of ocean acidification. And welcome, to our panelists here. We appreciate them testifying before us today, and we will introduce them shortly. We live on a blue planet. And on this day, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, it’s no coincident that we are focusing our attention on our oceans. They are 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and pro- vide a foundation for all of life. And yet, there is a grave threat that lies hidden beneath the sur- face, called ‘‘ocean acidification.’’ And since the start of the Indus- trial Revolution, humans have increased the global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration by 35 percent. But, carbon dioxide is not only accumulating in our atmosphere, it is being absorbed by our oceans. Approximately one-quarter of our global carbon dioxide emissions end up in oceans, and we know now that this is changing the very chemistry of our oceans. And while the full implications of these changes are unclear, the initial signs are frightening. As sea water becomes more acidic, it begins to withhold the basic chemical building blocks needed by marine organisms. Scientists predict that a more acidic ocean could dissolve the shells of tiny or- ganisms that make up the base of the ocean’s food chain. And when it comes to ocean acidification, we are not just damaging the ocean’s ecosystem, we are threatening its very foundation. And even though these changes are occurring out of sight and below the surface of the ocean, we are starting to see some of the very worrying signs. And that’s what this hearing today is to dis- cuss. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE 2 In May 2008, I held a field hearing, in Seattle, of this sub- committee to examine the impacts of ocean acidification and cli- mate change on Washington State’s marine environment. The most vivid testimony came from one of my constituents, a fifth-genera- tion shellfish farmer named Brett Bishop. Mr. Bishop’s family shellfish farm is on the Little Scookum Bay in Mason County. His parents live next door, and his two teenaged sons are the sixth generation to live on that homestead and grow clams and oysters. And over the past several years, ocean acidifica- tion decimated the source of oyster by dissolving the larvae shells and increasing the susceptibility to dangerous marine bacteria. Damaged natural reproduction, coupled with failing oyster hatch- eries, is threatening the entire shellfish industry in the Pacific Northwest. Generations of Brett Bishop’s family have invested ev- erything they have into their family farm, growing shellfish for 126 years. And if ocean acidification prevents the Bishop family from growing shellfish, they will lose their farm, their home, and six generations of hard work, hopes, and dreams. Today, I received a letter from the shellfish growers, commercial fishermen, seafood industry representatives from across the United States, requesting that Congress work to mitigate the cause and re- duction—the economic harm resulting from ocean acidification. I want to read just a paragraph from that letter, because I think it sums up today’s hearing, quote, ‘‘While some organisms are likely to be more adaptive than others to