"Researchers and hatcheries are exploring new ways to protect shellfish in the Pacific Northwest, although Trump budget cuts may thwart their efforts."
"Eighteen years ago, farmed oyster larvae began disappearing in mass die-offs, mystifying hatchery managers in the Pacific Northwest and threatening a thriving part of the region’s economy.
Up to 90 percent of the farmed Pacific oysters — the backbone of the industry — were being wiped out. Businesses like Taylor Shellfish Farms, the country’s largest grower now run by the fifth generation of the Taylor family, stood at the brink of catastrophe.
“It was a crisis, the industry was going to collapse,” said Bill Dewey, a spokesman for Taylor Shellfish Farms based in Shelton, Wash.
The culprit turned out to be an increasingly acidic ocean, and research efforts to solve the mystery have propelled Washington State to the forefront of the world’s efforts to understand and offset the shifting chemical composition of the seas."
Jim Robbins reports for the New York Times with photographs and video by Ruth Fremson July 7, 2025.
Advertisement 
