Our Blue Backyard

September 2025

The New York Times recently published a huge article on how increasing ocean acidification is affecting oyster farming: (article)

Some really important take aways from the article are:

A few companies are building seawater processing facilities that can take out acid and returning more alkaline water to the ocean. These are pilot projects, not proven yet.

One project, run by a company called Ebb Carbon, is happening in Washington State. Ebb Carbon is trying to treat hundreds of thousands of gallons of ocean water each day. It uses an electro-chemical process that basically separates the water into acid and alkalone rivers. The alkaline water would be returned to the sea.

Since oysters are suffering from increased acid in the water — making it hard for them to build shells and dissolving their shells too quickly — if we release some of this alkaline water near oyster farms, it could have a positive effect on their growth.