Researchers say fossil-fuel emissions will make the oceans more acidic in coming decades and drive down the population of the Dungeness crab, native to the north Pacific coast, by 30 percent, reports the Seattle Times. Federal fishery biologist Issac Kaplan, a co-author of the study, said the research points to “a moderate decline in a species that is really economically important.”
The crabs were “valued at some $220 million during the 2013 West Coast commercial season,” according to the Times.
Published in Global Change Biology, the study by fisheries researchers from the Pacific Northwest, said about one-third of carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by oceans, which makes the water more acidic and corrosive to the shells and skeletons of some marine animals. The study says acidity is expected to increase by more than 50 percent during the peak summer period from current levels.
“The study model indicates that the crab, which dwell along the seabottom, will suffer because of a decline in some of the species that nourish them. Some other bottom-dwelling commercial species, such as thornyhead rockfish and Petrale sole, also are expected to take a hit,” said the Times.