Why don't we just get the same three scientists that say greenhouse gases aren't changing the climate to say that they don't hurt crabs, either?

Problem solved.

Fish on...

Todd

You gotta be chitin me!

As the PH levels slowly rise there is a good chance that through the process of evolution the crab will slowly evolve along with the PH change.

A good chance, huh?

Jesus.

Don't think that is the reason for no crab in MA 13.......

Ocean acidification has scary potential, but experiments like this one don't scare me too much. I'm willing to bet human infants born into what these scientists would forecast our world to look like in 84 years, given no time to adapt, would also survive at lower rates.

Considering the harvest rate in today's crab fisheries, if you tell me crab productivity will be "less" in 84 years, I'll take that as great news. If we keep going the way we're going, there won't be much left in the ocean by 2100, period.

I complain a lot that mankind suffers from a tragic lack of foresight. In this particular case (as with salmon), I think we could stand to focus more on the state of the species TODAY. The status quo in our marine fisheries is a far greater, much more immediate threat to our iconic marine species, and it's something we actually CAN control in the near term.

Jerry, this is about PH and inorganic chemsitry which is before the cellular biological realm. This means no adaptations will solve this issue. It will hinder or hault the efficiency of development of small crab because it is more difficult to develop shell in an acidic environment. Life forms can not adapt in ways that break physical and chemical laws.

I spoke to the three scientists, and Rich G.

The crabs will be fine...it's you 'Merica haters that are going extinct.

Fish on...

Todd

Thanks for the explanation Jason. As for the brainiac 3 musketeers, GFY.

Don't worry. I'll bet you'll always be able to catch crabs in Aberdeen.

The Jurassic period had 5x the CO2 of today....

...and look at where that got them!

How many dinosaurs you see running around today?



As for the crab non-issue? We will harvest them to extinction LONG before their human-altered environment kills them off! Just saying. It's what we do to fisheries and it's how we manage them. Fish them to near extinction *then* figure out how to manage the resource.

Seems to be pretty good working model.

One of my bosses (and one of the very best-he got me into and (probably out of) a lot of stuff) said that most salmon biologists are simply managing the rate of extinction.

Te discussion earlier on how the "recovery" of Green, Puyallup, and Nisqually Chinook shows the truth of this..

That's quite an idiot contest Jerry and RvW have going on here.

No clear leader as of yet.

The ocean acidity thing and its detrimental effects on shell formation is VERY real.

Same thing is happening to juvenile oysters.

It's also affecting the ability to lay down new coral reefs.

Good news is that worldwide, populations begin to decline later this century so carbon emissions may go down. Now, the bigger issue is that population declines, historically speaking, have never been a good thing with regard to human flourishing but maybe it'll be good for sea life.

Yes, if we are thinking of a last supper scenario it is more likely that we will be on the crabs menu rather than the other way around.

Are you suggesting I am winning the (seasonal) battles yet losing the war?

I wasn't trying to be insulting. I am sorry if it came off that way.