Terry Sawyer is on a mission to rescue oysters from newly
hostile seas. Sawyer has been farming these briny bivalves for
almost 30 years in Tomales Bay, north of San Francisco, at Hog
Island Oyster Company. The business he co-owns sells $9 million
worth of Sweetwaters, Kumamotos, and Atlantic oysters a year at
the company's two local oyster bars, at nearby farmers markets,
and direct from the farm to hungry consumers who can't seem to
get enough of this sustainable shellfish. But Sawyer's seafood
business is threatened by ocean acidification (aka climate
change's evil twin) and he and other oyster growers are working
overtime to find creative ways to save these sea creatures --
and their own livelihoods. As the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide
from the air like a sponge, it also grows increasingly acidic.
As a result, baby bivalves, or “oyster seeds,” have a tougher
time growing shells and maturing into those plump, juicy adults
destined for dinner plates. (Acidification, which lowers the pH
of salt water, has al