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THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS 

OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, 

FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, 

SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

APRIL 22, 2010 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

( 

(II) 

SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

MARK WARNER, Virginia 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas, Ranking 

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

JIM DEMINT, South Carolina 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi 

GEORGE S. LEMIEUX, Florida 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

ELLEN L. DONESKI, Staff Director 

JAMES REID, Deputy Staff Director 

BRUCE H. ANDREWS, General Counsel 

ANN BEGEMAN, Republican Staff Director 

BRIAN M. HENDRICKS, Republican General Counsel 

NICK ROSSI, Republican Chief Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES, AND COAST 

GUARD 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chairman 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine, Ranking 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi 

GEORGE S. LEMIEUX, Florida 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on April 22, 2010 .............................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Cantwell .............................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Snowe ................................................................................... 3 

Statement of Senator Boxer .................................................................................... 5 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 

Statement of Senator Lautenberg .......................................................................... 7 

Statement of Senator Begich .................................................................................. 52 

WITNESSES

Sigourney Weaver, Actress ..................................................................................... 9 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 11 

Thomas Ingram, Executive Director, Diving Equipment and Marketing Association .................................................................................................................... 12 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 14 

Donald A. Waters, Commercial Fisherman, Pensacola, Florida .......................... 21 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 23 

James P. Barry, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research 

Institute (MBARI) and Member, Committee on Development of an Integrated Science Strategy for Ocean Acidification Monitoring, Research, and 

Impacts Assessment, National Research Council, The National Academies .. 25 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 

Dr. John T. Everett ................................................................................................. 32 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 34 

APPENDIX

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Olympia J. Snowe to: 

Thomas Ingram ................................................................................................ 61 

Donald A. Waters ............................................................................................. 63 

James P. Barry, Ph.D. ...................................................................................... 65 

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker to: 

James P. Barry, Ph.D. ...................................................................................... 67 

Response to written questions submitted to Dr. John T. Everett by: 

Hon. Olympia J. Snowe .................................................................................... 71 

Hon. Roger F. Wicker ....................................................................................... 72 

(1) 

THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC 

IMPACTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION 

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010 

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m. in room 

SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Maria Cantwell, 

Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON 

Senator CANTWELL. The Senate Committee on Commerce, 

Science and Transportation, Subcommittee on Oceans and Atmosphere and Fisheries, Coast Guard, will come to order. 

Today, we’re having a hearing on the environmental and economic impacts of ocean acidification. And welcome, to our panelists 

here. We appreciate them testifying before us today, and we will 

introduce them shortly. 

We live on a blue planet. And on this day, the 40th anniversary 

of Earth Day, it’s no coincident that we are focusing our attention 

on our oceans. They are 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and provide a foundation for all of life. 

And yet, there is a grave threat that lies hidden beneath the surface, called ‘‘ocean acidification.’’ And since the start of the Industrial Revolution, humans have increased the global atmospheric 

carbon dioxide concentration by 35 percent. But, carbon dioxide is 

not only accumulating in our atmosphere, it is being absorbed by 

our oceans. Approximately one-quarter of our global carbon dioxide 

emissions end up in oceans, and we know now that this is changing 

the very chemistry of our oceans. And while the full implications 

of these changes are unclear, the initial signs are frightening. 

As sea water becomes more acidic, it begins to withhold the basic 

chemical building blocks needed by marine organisms. Scientists 

predict that a more acidic ocean could dissolve the shells of tiny organisms that make up the base of the ocean’s food chain. And when 

it comes to ocean acidification, we are not just damaging the 

ocean’s ecosystem, we are threatening its very foundation. 

And even though these changes are occurring out of sight and 

below the surface of the ocean, we are starting to see some of the 

very worrying signs. And that’s what this hearing today is to discuss. 

2 

In May 2008, I held a field hearing, in Seattle, of this subcommittee to examine the impacts of ocean acidification and climate change on Washington State’s marine environment. The most 

vivid testimony came from one of my constituents, a fifth-generation shellfish farmer named Brett Bishop. 

Mr. Bishop’s family shellfish farm is on the Little Scookum Bay 

in Mason County. His parents live next door, and his two teenaged 

sons are the sixth generation to live on that homestead and grow 

clams and oysters. And over the past several years, ocean acidification decimated the source of oyster by dissolving the larvae shells 

and increasing the susceptibility to dangerous marine bacteria. 

Damaged natural reproduction, coupled with failing oyster hatcheries, is threatening the entire shellfish industry in the Pacific 

Northwest. Generations of Brett Bishop’s family have invested everything they have into their family farm, growing shellfish for 126 

years. And if ocean acidification prevents the Bishop family from 

growing shellfish, they will lose their farm, their home, and six 

generations of hard work, hopes, and dreams. 

Today, I received a letter from the shellfish growers, commercial 

fishermen, seafood industry representatives from across the United 

States, requesting that Congress work to mitigate the cause and reduction—the economic harm resulting from ocean acidification. I 

want to read just a paragraph from that letter, because I think it 

sums up today’s hearing, quote, ‘‘While some organisms are likely 

to be more adaptive than others to high CO2 oceans, seafood producers and consumers cannot afford to whistle in the dark about 

these changes. The U.S. seafood industry generates approximately 

60 billion annually, fueling jobs and businesses that sustain thousands of families along the Gulf, Atlantic, Pacific and ocean—and 

Alaskan Coast. Even for the fisheries, where no direct harm from 

acidification has yet been documented, the disturbing signs of trouble on the front lines reveal a very compelling case to prevent the 

impacts from spreading and growing more severe.’’ 

Stories like the Bishop family and this letter is why we called 

this hearing today, so this subcommittee can look at the threats, 

challenges, and questions posed by ocean acidification to our coastal communities, to the businesses and the people who rely on these 

healthy systems. 

It is also why this committee worked so hard to enact legislation 

Senator Lautenberg—Federal—in his Federal Ocean Acidification 

Research and Monitoring Act, which I was proud to cosponsor; that 

law established the Nation’s first comprehensive program to specifically study ocean acidification. 

And there he is, on cue. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CANTWELL. We’re glad to see you. 

Ocean acidification is real, and there is a clear link between our 

society’s carbons emission and the resulting change in the ocean’s 

chemistry. Fortunately, we can slow down this process by ending 

our dangerous over-reliance on fossil fuel and transitioning to a 

cleaner, more diverse energy source. This effort has been one of my 

top priorities, and I will continue to fight to craft responsible, effective, bipartisan legislation to move us forward. 

3 

Doing so is not only vital for our oceans and our environment, 

but for people like Brett Bishop and some of our witnesses who are 

here today, Mr. Waters and Mr. Ingram, but also for our Nation’s 

long-term economy and our sustainability. 

So, again, I would like to thank the witnesses for being here, and 

like to turn it over to the Ranking Member, Senator Snowe, to 

make an opening statement. 

STATEMENT OF HON. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MAINE 

Senator SNOWE. Thank you, Madam Chair, for calling this hearing today. 

It’s only appropriate that we would be convening this hearing 

today on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, to discuss perhaps the 

greatest threat facing our planet’s oceans. If current trend of ocean 

acidification continues, by the end of this century vast areas of the 

sea could very well become inhospitable to many species which 

form the foundation of the marine food web. 

Our oceans, which make up 70 percent of the planet’s surface, 

are far too often overlooked, and as a source of the very building 

blocks of life, we cannot risk placing them in jeopardy. 

That’s why I’m very pleased today to be able to welcome our witnesses. Dr. Barry and Dr. Everett, your efforts to identify, to monitor, and to predict the trend of ocean acidification will be integral 

to protecting the marine environment, and the businesses that will 

be directly affected, like those represented here today. 

Mr. Waters and Mr. Ingram, your work in the industry drives 

our coastal economy, and you’re on the front lines of the battle to 

protect our ocean resources. 

And, Ms. Weaver, thank you for being here and for adding your 

eloquent voice and your presence in working as an ocean advocate 

and narrator of the stunning piece that we’ll have the opportunity 

to see a portion of here today, in the documentary, ‘‘The Acid Test: 

The Global Challenges of Ocean Acidification.’’ This will continue 

to raise the public profile of this issue. It’s vital that we not only 

garner the public’s attention, but also galvanize public action, both 

here and across this country, and, indeed, around the world. So, 

thank you for your contribution and being such a champion. 

In just a few short years, ocean acidification has developed from 

a relatively new theory into one of the most disconcerting aspects 

of global climate change. In 2005, when the U.S. Commission on 

Ocean Policy submitted its final report to Congress—it just seems 

like yesterday—the term ‘‘acidification’’ did not appear in the 676- 

page document. And yet, today we’re holding the second subcommittee hearing on this topic since May of 2007. 

In the past 250 years, atmospheric and oceanic carbon concentrations have increased by 40 percent, and the pH of our oceans has 

decreased by roughly 30 percent, a rate of change not seen in more 

than 800,000 years, and that was underscored in the National Research Council’s publication, which was released this week. That 

report, coauthored by Dr. Barry, on ocean acidification, confirms 

the current state of knowledge about this issue and delineates the 

areas requiring additional information. In effect, this document 

provides a litany of things we still don’t know: how individuals and 

4 

species will react to acidification in conjunction with other environmental stressors, the potential for adaptation and acclimation to 

lower pH levels, and the socioeconomic fallout that we will experience. 

Clearly, following through with this work, which has been outlined in the NRC’s report, will be vital to the future of our coastal 

economies, as I’m sure Mr. Waters and Mr. Ingram will attest. And 

what affects our coastal economy drives our national economy; in 

fact, more than 75 percent of the growth in this country between 

1997 and 2007 was in coastal states, whether measured by population, jobs, or GDP. Every year, the ocean-dependent economy, 

comprised of tourism, fishing, and other marine industrial activities, generated more than $138 billion in revenues, including $70 

billion from tourism alone. 

As ocean acidification weakens coral reef structures that protect 

many of our southern shores, we also risk losing a vital buffer 

against coastal storm surges, leaving these regions increasingly 

vulnerable. 

In my home State of Maine, our shellfish industry, led by the 

iconic Maine lobster industry, represents more than 80 percent of 

our landings totalling over $250 million, in fact, in 2008. To date, 

the brunt of the effects of acidification has been outlined very eloquently by the Chair regarding the Pacific Northwest. So, it remains unclear what increasingly acidic oceans will mean for New 

England’s fishermen. Some reports have shown that lower pH levels can result in lower shellfish reproductive rates and decrease 

shell thickness, leading to greater vulnerability to predators. However, in some species, such as lobster, shell growth can actually 

speed up. The point is, we don’t know. 

Regardless of what the final results will be, we simply cannot 

leave the future of our oceans and their valuable resources to 

chance. That’s why I joined the Chair in cosponsoring legislation offered by Senator Lautenberg that, fortunately, became law in 2009, 

to create a program within NOAA to study ocean acidification. I 

also joined in sending a letter to the NOAA Administrator, Dr. 

Jane Lubchenco, in her appearance at Copenhagen asking her to 

prioritize, not only climate change, but also the issue of ocean 

acidification. 

As we know, the conference did not, ultimately, produce a consensus on climate change; acidification was a prominent topic. The 

world is beginning to acknowledge this looming catastrophe, and 

our obligation to act quickly and decisively to manage it. To do 

that, we must enhance our research capabilities, including a greater commitment to the Integrated Ocean Observing System. I sometimes sound like a broken record on this issue. 

At this subcommittee’s hearing in 2007 on ocean acidification, all 

six of the witnesses underscored the view that the ocean observing 

systems are integral to boosting our ability to monitor this problem. 

I introduced legislation that was enacted along with the Ocean 

Acidification Act, paving the way for enhancement of this vital tool. 

Unfortunately, NOAA has failed to adequately support the implementation. For 2011, the agency has requested just $21 million for 

this program, more than $12 million less in the previous year, and 

5 

less than half of the $53 million that has been requested by the 

National Federation of Regional Associations that estimates the regional components of the system required in order to function properly. The NRC report, released today, lists an ocean-observing network as its first recommendation, and rightfully so, further reinforcing the imperative to sustain and enhance this system. 

As we’ll hear from our witnesses today, the implications of ocean 

acidification are still being researched, but the basic equation is 

simple: acidification makes it more difficult for shell-building organisms to survive. This leaves less food for larger fish that we catch 

and eat. It leaves fewer corals to serve as fish nurseries, act as 

storm buffers, and to inspire visitors, as vibrant reminders of the 

diversity and the complexity of marine life. Follow this trend to its 

logical conclusion, and the cost of inaction is too great to contemplate. 

So, again, Madam Chair, thank you for holding this hearing 

today, and thank you all for being here. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. And I want to give my colleagues, who have been leaders, Senator Boxer and Senator Lautenberg, a chance to make opening statements, and then we’ll turn 

to the witnesses, as well. 

And I want to just thank Senator Boxer for her leadership as 

Chairman of the EPW Committee—and has been an advocate of 

oceans policies, passed many bills through this committee. And so, 

we appreciate her being here today. 

STATEMENT OF HON. BARBARA BOXER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM CALIFORNIA 

Senator BOXER. Well, I want to thank you, Madam Chairman 

and Ranking Member Snowe. Senators Lautenberg, and I know 

we’ve been joined by Senator Nelson. 

You know, all of us see this in a very similar light. We have to 

act. And it’s very fitting that, on this day, Earth Day, we’re discussing ocean acidification. Because I believe it is one of the biggest 

threats facing our oceans. 

I want to thank our panel, each and every one of you, for coming 

forward. 

About a third of the carbon dioxide we’ve emitted into the atmosphere has been drawn down into the ocean. The climate change our 

planet is experiencing would be even more severe without this important process. The ocean is a very large carbon sink, and it is 

now showing the stress and the strain of that. 

Adding so much carbon dioxide to the ocean has caused its pH 

to decrease by a tenth of a unit since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and that is what ocean acidification is. When you 

add carbon dioxide to water, it makes calcium carbonate minerals 

that dissolve more easily, and that threatens species whose shells 

or skeletons contain these materials, such as the corals, commercially imported shellfish, like mussels, clams, and oysters, and 

some microscopic algae that form the basis of the entire marine 

food web. 

Earlier this morning, I did a little experiment. I was thinking of 

doing it out here, but I thought that this—‘‘This belongs in the 

science lab.’’ But, I did a little experiment. 

6 

We had a jar of plain water, and we had a jar of sparkling water, 

which has carbon dioxide added to it, and we took two pieces of 

chalk and—those are basically calcium carbonate—and we dropped 

one into each glass. And when you drop the chalk into the still 

water, nothing happened. It just—the chalk sat there. But, immediately upon dropping it into the carbonated—the carbon dioxide 

water, you saw, immediately—immediately, the chalk began to dissolve. And it’s a very simple, well- known chemical reaction, but it 

has complex impacts on our marine ecosystems. 

And I won’t reiterate what Senator Snowe said about the economic impact of losing this very special and precious environment. 

My estimates are, from my staff, that if you take ‘‘the rainforests 

of the sea,’’ as we call them, and you look at the tourist attraction 

they are, and you look at everything else that goes along with it, 

you’re looking at a global economy of fishery resources and tourism 

of $375 billion. Imagine. And the devastation would be enormous, 

in so many ways, if we lose this environment. 

I won’t go into my support of Frank’s—Lautenberg—Senator 

Lautenberg’s legislation. I was proud to do that, as well. We all are 

working to make sure that we have this research done. 

But, I want to give you my opinion, and it may be worth something to somebody, and that is that unless we have a climate 

change bill, we’re going to whistle past the graveyard, because this 

is—we’re talking about a carbon sink. This is the problem. The carbon is going into the ocean, so much of it. 

And so, I hope, and even pray, yes, that, here in the Senate, we 

will have the breakthrough with the bipartisan efforts—I would 

say tripartisan—an Independent, a Republican, and a Democrat— 

the Kerry-Lieberman-Graham bill, and I’m working with them, and 

hope it will a good bill. And if we can make that breakthrough, 

we’re going to turn this around. And I just am so committed to that 

and hope that my colleagues will move forward, because we can 

study this, and we must, and we should. But, we know the oceans 

are a carbon sink. So, the obvious thing to do is just cut down on 

the amount of carbon we’re putting into the atmosphere. It’s simple. It’s not simple to pass the bill, I understand. But it—we know 

what we have to do. 

And I just want to say to my colleagues on this committee, on 

both sides of the aisle, what leaders they have been on the environment. And it gives me a lot of solace, to know that they’re here, 

looking at these issues. At the end of the day, we have to be bold, 

and we have to address this. 

I just want to say to Ms. Weaver, you know, I—representing the 

State of California, we have so many very, very famous stars, and 

we have famous directors, and we have—a lot of fame. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BOXER. And I so appreciate when people with that aura 

come forward, because what you do—first, you give up a little bit 

of your privacy, and I know that’s hard. But, what you do is, you 

gain attention to the issue that—a lot of us try to gain attention 

to it. We get a little bit, but we really can’t hold a candle to the 

attention that you will get by your testimony here. And, obviously, 

your work in the movies—and Jim Cameron and all the rest. So, 

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. 

7 

And I would yield back to the Chair or the Ranking Member. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Boxer follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BARBARA BOXER, U.S. SENATOR FROM CALIFORNIA

Thank you, Madam Chairman, for holding this hearing—fittingly, on Earth Day— 

to discuss ocean acidification. This is one of the biggest threats facing our oceans. 

About one-third of the carbon dioxide we have emitted into the atmosphere has 

been drawn down into the ocean. The climate change our planet is experiencing 

would be even more severe without this important process. 

Unfortunately, as reported by the National Research Council today, adding so 

much carbon dioxide to the ocean has caused its pH to decrease by a tenth of a unit 

since the beginning of the industrial revolution, a process called ocean acidification. 

When you add carbon dioxide to water, it makes calcium carbonate minerals dissolve more easily, threatening species whose shells or skeletons contain these minerals—such as corals, commercially-important shellfish like mussels, clams, and oysters, and some microscopic algae that form the basis of the entire marine food web. 

The economic consequences of ocean acidification could be enormous. The ocean 

economy generates $230 billion in economic activity and 3.6 million jobs nationwide, 

with more than half of those revenues and two-thirds of those jobs coming from 

ocean tourism, recreation, and fishing. Coral reefs, which have been called 

‘‘rainforests of the sea,’’ provide an estimated $375 billion per year in economic activity, while covering less than 1 percent of the Earth’s surface. Imagine the economic devastation if we lose these important resources. 

Much is still unknown about exactly how ocean acidification will affect marine 

ecosystems, and this is a top priority for ocean research. That’s why I proudly cosponsored the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act, which was 

signed into law in March 2009. This legislation established a coordinated Federal 

research and monitoring program on ocean acidification. 

While we continue to study the impacts of ocean acidification, we also need to reduce our emissions of carbon dioxide that are changing global climate and ocean 

chemistry—which is why moving clean energy legislation has been one of my top 

priorities as Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. 

I look forward to hearing from our panelists about the latest information on ocean 

acidification, and will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to address 

this important issue. 

Senator SNOWE. Thank you very much, Senator Boxer. 

Senator Lautenberg. 

STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW JERSEY 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And my 

colleagues, I think, amply laid out the problem. Around here, everything may have been said, but everybody hasn’t said it. So, we’ll 

take our—— 

[Laughter.] 

Senator LAUTENBERG. And, Ms. Weaver, thanks for your help. 

The last time I saw you, you weren’t looking back at me, but you 

were in outer space, and it was quite something. And, at that time, 

I also had hair. So, we’ve had—— 

[Laughter.] 

Senator LAUTENBERG.—we’ve had changes. 

Our oceans cover, as we know, 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. 

In my home State, New Jersey, though small in size, we have 127 

miles of shoreline, and we’re terribly—extremely dependent on our 

coast to energize our economy, create jobs, and support families. In 

fact, our coast is a $50-billion-a-year economic powerhouse that’s 

responsible for one out of every six jobs in the State of New Jersey. 

Whether it’s fishermen, hotel workers, shop owners, our state depends on this natural resource; so does our country. Our oceans 

8 

generate more income for our economy, the U.S. economy, than the 

entire agricultural sector. And despite that, our oceans are under 

assault—water pollution, climate change, offshore drilling—all pose 

severe threat to their future. But, it doesn’t end there, and the 

ocean acidification is a problem that is intensifying, as we’ve heard. 

About one-third of all carbon dioxide pollution that we release 

into the air is absorbed by the Earth’s oceans, making the oceans 

more acidic. This increase in acidity threatens to decimate entire 

species, including those that are at the foundation of our marine 

food chains. If that occurs, the consequences are devastating. 

And when I look at my grandchildren—and that’s my 

motivator—and I think about what life might be like in 20 or 30 

years, it’s not a pleasant prospect. And I’m going to do whatever 

I can to fight against it. 

Imagine what the collapse of the food chain would mean to commercial fishing, tourism, and coastal communities. And that’s why 

I wrote the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring 

Act. It became law last year, and coordinates all Federal research 

on this serious threat. 

And, once again, Sigourney, your help—immense on being—in 

getting that law passed, and I’m equally grateful to you. We all 

should be. 

The President’s budget funds this new law for the first time, and it includes more than $11 million to assess the effects of the ocean 

acidification. It’s a good start, but I have questions about whether 

it’s enough. 

And now, even as we zero in on the effects of ocean acidification, 

we also have to address the causes, as Senator Boxer said. We cannot sit on our hands while carbon pollution continues to spew from 

trucks, cars, power plants. And that’s why we’ve got to pass an effective climate change bill that’s going to cut global—the global 

warming pollution and spark a new clean energy economy. 

Putting limits on carbon pollution will not only protect our vibrant coastal economies, it’s going to create manufacturing jobs, 

clean up the air that our children breathe, and reduce our dependence on dirty, unsafe fuels. 

And I thank all of you for being here, for your willingness to testify. And it’s even possible we might have a disagreement, but welcome. 

Thank you. 

Senator SNOWE. Thank you very much, Senator Lautenberg, I 

appreciate it. 

Before we hear from our panel of witnesses, I’d like to play a 

short video produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council. 

We thank you very much for creating this documentary that I 

think sends a very powerful message about the challenge that 

we’re facing with respect to our oceans. 

Now we’ll see if the technology works. 

[Video presentation.] 

Senator SNOWE. Well, it’s clear that that portion of the video, I 

think, again underscores and powerfully portrays the challenge 

that we face and must confront. 

So, again, I thank all of you for joining us today, and now I’d like 

to introduce our panel for their testimony. 

9 

Ms. Sigourney Weaver, Actress, narrator of ‘‘The Acid Test: The 

Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification’’; Dr. James Barry, Senior 

Scientist,, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Mr. Donny 

Waters, Commercial Fisherman from the Gulf of Mexico; Mr. Tom 

Ingram, Executive Director, Diving Equipment and Marketing Association; Dr. John Everett, President, Ocean Associates, Incorporated. 

Ms. Weaver, we’ll begin with you. 

STATEMENT OF SIGOURNEY WEAVER, ACTRESS 

Ms. WEAVER. Red light—oh, testing, testing. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. WEAVER. OK, thank you. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. WEAVER. Hi. My name is Sigourney Weaver, and I am honored to appear before you today, the 40th anniversary of Earth 

Day, as we’ve all said, to testify about ocean acidification. I am not 

here as a science—a scientific or a policy expert, but as a concerned 

American and as an Earthling. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. WEAVER. My father was a Navy man. His one requirement 

as we grew up was that he always had to be in sight of a body of 

saltwater. So, I had the great advantage of growing up next to the 

sea and listening to foghorns at night and being chased by horseshoe crabs by day. And I think, like a lot of us, I thought of the 

oceans as these vast, infinite places, certainly infinitely forgiving, 

in terms of whatever we were doing to them or throwing into them. 

And now, of course, we know that this is not the case. 

One of the things I love about the ocean is the mystery of marine 

life. The oceans contain so much life and variety, as you’ve just 

seen, and a lot of it is hidden from our sight. A lot of it is, if you’ll 

excuse the pun, alien to us. And this makes the process of learning 

about the oceans, and what lives in them, an unending series of 

surprises and discoveries, because the oceans are so full of organisms that are unlike anything we know on land, that sometimes 

their very existence seems impossible. For instance, there are life 

forms that don’t even need light or food to survive. They consume 

chemicals, like hydrogen sulfide, that bubble up from deep sea 

vents. 

And these same features that make the ocean so wonderful, their 

mystery and their otherworldliness, have actually worked to the 

oceans’ disadvantage now, because for many of us, the oceans are 

sort of out of sight and out of mind, and we take them for granted. 

Their inaccessibility has limited our scientific exploration, and 

their vastness and power have made them seem indestructible, 

with endlessly renewing resources. So, we tend to forget the oceans 

are finite and vulnerable, and that we all depend on them for our 

survival, and for our completeness, regardless of where we live or 

what we eat. 

The oceans generate most of our oxygen, they regulate our climate, they provide most of our population with sustenance. We 

cannot prosper unless the oceans prosper, too. And the oceans are 

not prospering. 

10 

Unfortunately, one secret that the oceans have kept very well is 

their sensitivity to carbon dioxide pollution. Scientists have known 

for decades that when CO2 mixes with ocean water, it creates carbonic acid; but only recently did we begin to realize that this growing quantity of carbonic acid—what that would mean for ocean life. 

And, you know, as you have seen in ‘‘Acid Test,’’ this new understanding has many of the world’s leading scientists deeply concerned. 

So, what they say is that the oceans are 30 percent more acidic 

today than they were during pre-industrial times, and if we continue burning fossil fuels as we are now, we will actually double 

the ocean’s acidity by the end of this century. And scientists believe 

that many organisms may not survive so radical a shift in chemistry. Some of those organisms, certain plankton and corals, for instance, which form the foundation of ocean food webs, if they perish—and they are already suffering; we have scientific data that is 

indisputable—what happens to the hundreds of thousands of species further up the food chain? What happens, then, to our shellfish, our oysters, clams, and mussels that appear particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification? 

Now, despite scientists’ concern, this phenomenon of ocean acidification was, until very recently, little known to the public, certainly not known to myself. And that is the reason ‘‘Acid Test’’ was 

made, and certainly the reason I joined the project, which Natural 

Resources Defense Council, an organization whose work I have 

long admired, called and said, ‘‘Will you participate in this?’’ 

Now, despite the seriousness of this threat from ocean acidification, there is cause for hope. And my hope, one that’s shared by 

millions of Americans, is that you, our legislators, will put aside 

your differences and enact climate and energy legislation that will 

move America to a clean energy economy, an economy based on efficiency and renewable power that will build a workable future for 

all living things. 

In addition, lawmakers must help ocean ecosystems adapt to the 

changes brought about by a warming climate and acidifying oceans. 

To make the oceans more resilient to these changes, we need to do 

a better job of keeping oceans healthy. That means restoring depleted fish populations, protecting important marine and coastal 

habitats, and reducing pollution, particularly nutrient pollution, in 

the coastal zones. 

Finally, it is critical in—critically important that our Nation invest in research that will help us all better understand the implications of ocean acidification, because we’re only now beginning to 

understand the changes that occur in an increasingly acidic ocean 

world. 

Having been in the movie ‘‘Avatar,’’ I know how passionately people feel all over this country, and all over the world; they want to 

preserve and protect our planet. This is particularly true in our 

country, I think. It’s not considered a partisan issue for Americans. 

And we need your leadership, we need your courage, and we need 

your willingness to act. 

The recent documentary series on our National Parks showed 

how, time after time, with the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and 

the Adirondacks, it was our legislatures—legislators who had the 

11 

foresight and courage to save us from our own lack of vision. The 

oceans are sending us a message, loud and clear: Dirty fossil fuels 

are killing them, and time is running out. We need you to listen 

and to lead. 

Thank you for this opportunity. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Weaver follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SIGOURNEY WEAVER, ACTRESS

My name is Sigourney Weaver and I am honored to appear before you today, the 

40th Anniversary of Earth Day, to testify about ocean acidification. I am here not 

as a scientific or policy expert, but as a concerned citizen. 

My father was a Navy man and the one requirement he had as I was growing 

up, in terms of where we lived, is that we had to be within sight of a body of salt 

water at all times. So I grew up listening to foghorns at night and being chased 

by crabs by day. And I think like a lot of us, I thought of the oceans as infinite 

and vast, and certainly infinitely forgiving in terms of what we were doing to them. 

We now know, of course, that that is not the case. 

What I love about our oceans is the mystery of marine life. The oceans contain 

so much life and variety and most of it is hidden from our sight. A lot of it is— 

if you’ll pardon the pun—alien to us. And this makes the process of learning about 

the oceans and what lives in them an unending series of surprises, a constant discovery of treasures. 

The ocean is full of organisms that are so unlike anything we know on land that 

their very existence seems impossible. For instance, there are life-forms that don’t 

need light or what we’d think of as food to survive. They simply consume chemicals, 

such as hydrogen sulfide, that bubble up from deep sea vents. 

These same features that make the ocean so wonderful—its mystery and other 

worldliness—have actually worked to the oceans’ disadvantage, because for many of 

us, the oceans are out-of-sight and out-of-mind. Their inaccessibility has limited our 

scientific exploration, and their vastness and power have made them seem indestructible, with endlessly renewing resources. 

So we tend to forget that the oceans are both finite and vulnerable, and that we 

all depend on them for our survival, regardless of where we live or what we eat. 

Organisms in the oceans generate most of our oxygen, the oceans regulate our climate, and they provide a large portion of the world’s population with sustenance. 

We cannot prosper unless the ocean prospers, too. And the oceans are not prospering. 

Unfortunately, one secret the oceans have kept very well is their sensitivity to 

carbon dioxide pollution. Scientists have known for decades that when CO2 mixes 

with ocean water it creates an acid; this is textbook chemistry. But only recently 

did they begin to realize what this growing quantity of acid would mean for ocean 

life. As you see in the film Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification, 

this new understanding has some of the world’s leading ocean scientists deeply concerned. 

What they say is this: the oceans are 30 percent more acidic today than they were 

during pre-industrial times and, if we continue burning fossil fuels as we are now, 

we will double the ocean’s acidity by the end of the century. 

Now scientists fear many organisms may not survive so radical a shift in chemistry. And some of those organisms—certain plankton and corals, for instance—form 

the foundation of ocean food webs. If they perish, what happens to the tens of thousands of species further up the chain? What happens to our shellfish—our oysters, 

clams, mussels—that appear particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification? 

Despite scientists’ concern, the phenomenon of ocean acidification was, until very 

recently, little known to the public. That is the reason the film Acid Test was made. 

And it is the reason I joined the project when the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an organization whose work I have long admired, called. 

Despite the seriousness of the threat from ocean acidification, there is still cause 

for hope. My hope, one shared by millions of Americans, is that you, our legislators, 

will put aside your differences and enact climate and energy legislation that will 

move America to a clean energy economy—an economy based on efficiency and renewable power—that will build a workable future for all living things. 

In addition, lawmakers must help ocean ecosystems adapt to the changes brought 

about by a warming climate and acidifying oceans. To make the oceans more resilient to these changes, we need to do a better job of keeping the oceans healthy. That 

12 

means restoring depleted fish populations, protecting important marine and coastal 

habitats and reducing pollution, including nutrient pollution, in the coastal zones. 

Finally, it is critically important that our Nation invest in research that will help 

us better understand the implications of ocean acidification. We are only beginning 

to understand the changes that could occur in an increasingly acidic ocean world. 

Thank you for the opportunity to share my testimony today. 

Senator CANTWELL [presiding]. Thank you, Ms. Weaver. And let 

me add my thanks to you for your leadership on this issue. In 

Washington State, we have a statement, that environmentalists 

make great ancestors. And—— 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. WEAVER. We hope. 

Senator CANTWELL.—I think that your—I think that your stewardship is about helping us take care of the planet. So, thank you 

for being here on Earth Day and for—— 

Ms. WEAVER. Pleasure. 

Senator CANTWELL.—your active effort in helping to explain this 

to the—to many people, who yet need to be convinced. So, thank 

you. 

Mr. Ingram, we’re going to turn to you and go right down the 

line of our panelists, and then we’ll go to questions. 

STATEMENT OF THOMAS INGRAM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

DIVING EQUIPMENT AND MARKETING ASSOCIATION 

Mr. INGRAM. OK, thank you very much. 

Good morning, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Snowe, members of the Committee. I’m Tom Ingram, I am Executive Director 

of the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, and I want to 

thank you for the opportunity to testify on the potential economic 

impacts of ocean acidification on the recreational scuba and snorkeling industries. 

DEMA is a nonprofit trade association, we represent dive businesses worldwide. Our mission is to promote sustainable growth in 

safe recreational diving and snorkeling while protecting the underwater environment. So, we have a vested interest in what’s going 

on here today. 

My testimony today will focus on several areas: the dependence 

of the diving industry on a healthy marine environment, now and 

for the future; the overall economic value of recreational diving and 

snorkeling; how ocean acidification could impact diving-related 

businesses; and then DEMA’s ability and desire to provide additional input as policies are considered and crafted. 

You know, divers, perhaps more than many, are very aware of 

the need for a long-term sustainability of this resource; far more 

than others, perhaps, because we see it firsthand every time we go 

into the water. The health of the ocean directly and immediately 

impacts our business, and without an appropriate place to dive, 

there simply isn’t a diving industry at all. Divers, and diving professionals for that matter, are stewards of the aquatic environment; 

they respect it, they want to protect it. And DEMA itself, as a representative of the industry, has been an advocate of appropriate 

legislation, where science and economics indicated the need. 

In the past, we’ve advocated reauthorization of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, we supported and commented on the creation 

13 

of marine life protection areas, we drafted the 2008 Ships To Reefs 

legislation in Florida to take pressure off natural reefs by sinking 

retired ships as artificial reefs. 

There are between 2.7 and 3.5 million active scuba divers in the 

U.S., and about 6 million active scuba divers worldwide. In that little chart that you all had up here earlier, we’re about a sliver, that 

big, we’re very tiny. But, every year, about 200,000 people become 

certified in the United States. And by some estimates more than 

a million people worldwide try diving under the direct supervision 

of a dive professional, without ever becoming certified. All of these 

groups are attracted to coral reefs, and all help support the diving 

business. Any loss of access to dive sites, or the destruction of coral 

reefs due to ocean acidification—or any other reason, for that matter—are going to impact our industry in a number of different 

ways. 

Probably the most immediate is the loss of activity, which equals 

the loss of jobs. In the U.S. there are about 92.5 million snorkel 

diver days per year and about 22.8 million scuba diver days per 

year. U.S. economics studies show that diving activity alone, just 

the activity itself, aside from manufacturing and training and travel and retail and the diving media, the activity itself is responsible 

for about 340,000 full-time equivalent jobs here in the U.S. We also 

contribute about $11 billion to the gross domestic product through 

direct, indirect, and induced revenue. 

So, we have a contribution to make, as well, and I think, beyond 

dollars and jobs, there’s something that’s very important. Reefs 

have another value, and I like to call this a ‘‘nonmarket value.’’ 

And it’s truly an economic value for divers, because we like to see 

these reefs, and we like to see them in an unharmed state. And 

that is our economic value. Long-term, you can think of that nonmarket value as being something that’s giving me, giving my industry, the ability to show these coral reefs to my children and to 

my grandchildren, two of whom are sitting right here in the room 

today. 

The loss of reefs through ocean acidification will impact business, 

for sure; it will hit the human side of our business. There are approximately 1800 retail dive centers in the United States, there are 

about 200 DEMA member destinations around the world; all of 

those could be lost if we were to lose our coral reefs, because they 

all depend on them, to some extent. 

And I think the challenge for this committee with regard to 

ocean acidification, at least from our perspective, is finding the balance of keeping these businesses viable while protecting the oceans. 

We, at DEMA, believe we can assist in understanding what that 

market value is, and what the nonmarket value is, of these resources, and in finding the balance that allows continued usage 

and access, but also helps protect the resource and the businesses 

that are built around them. We can provide you with firsthand information that could be helpful to the Committee. 

We strongly support the economic and environmental investigation of the effects of ocean acidification being undertaken by this 

committee. We look forward to working with Congress to develop 

a balanced approach between the immediate economic business 

14 

issues and the long-term health of the critical coral reef and ocean 

resources. 

Thank you very much for this opportunity to express the diving 

industry’s concerns regarding ocean acidification. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ingram follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THOMAS INGRAM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIVING EQUIPMENT AND MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Introduction 

Good morning Mr. Chairman, Senator Cantwell, and members of the Committee. 

I am Tom Ingram, Executive Director of the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the potential economic impacts 

of ocean acidification on the recreational scuba diving and snorkeling industries. 

The Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) is a non-profit trade 

association (501 (c) 6) based in San Diego California, representing the business and 

consumer interests of the recreational scuba and snorkel diving industries all over 

the world. DEMA’s mission is to promote sustainable growth in safe recreational 

scuba diving and snorkeling while protecting the underwater environment. 

My testimony today will focus on the interest of snorkeling and scuba diving participants in protecting and respectfully using the marine environment while keeping 

it clean and healthy, on the economic benefit of access to healthy dive sites for U.S. 

and international recreational scuba diving and snorkeling interests, on job creation 

and economic benefit to communities based on diving activity and access to an attractive environment, and on the economic concerns of these industries should such 

access be lost due to ocean acidification or for any reason. I will also reiterate our 

industries’ interest in participating in and assisting with policy development and 

implementation as such policies are considered. 

Interest of Snorkelers and Scuba Divers in Protecting the Marine 

Environment 

DEMA strongly supports scientific and economic investigation to determine the 

potential impacts of ocean acidification and looks forward to working with Congress 

to ensure that the marine environment remains clean and healthy, a viable place 

for continued diving consumer use, and remains open to careful stewardship by diving businesses around the world. We applaud Congress for scheduling this hearing 

as a means of gathering information for such investigations. 

The diving industry depends on continuing interaction with a healthy marine environment for its very existence, and is aware of the need for long term sustainability of these resources for all. Consequently, the diving industry is dedicated to 

protecting the marine environment for its own well-being and for the well-being of 

all. For these reasons DEMA’s mission statement includes an expressed acknowledgment of the need for protecting the aquatic environmental. 

Scuba divers and snorkelers are strong advocates for environmental protection in 

part because they can observe first-hand the coastal marine ecosystem, and can relate that information to friends, family and acquaintances. Divers have long been 

concerned with the effects of pollution and other potential sources of damage; 

whether from run-off that originates from populated regions in proximity to diving 

areas, from potential sources of CO2, or from other sources. Scuba divers and 

snorkelers are stewards of a unique environment upon which they depend for recreation and study. All ‘‘certified’’ scuba divers today are educated to maintain proper 

buoyancy and positioning while diving, which helps to prevent accidental damage 

to natural marine and other aquatic resources. Many divers seek additional training 

to better understand the complex nature of coral reef communities, fishery resources 

and how to contribute to the knowledge base needed to monitor and protect these 

environments. With their first-hand observation of these protected areas, divers can 

and do encourage others to protect these resources. 

The most active divers in the U.S. today participate in diving activities in many 

areas of the country, including such locations as the Florida Keys National Marine 

Sanctuary, areas of California and Hawaii, and other U.S. territories in the Caribbean and in the Pacific. According to a study by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), 78 percent of divers travel to dive within 12 months of receiving their initial diver training and certification. 

According to a 2006 and 2009 DEMA study, today’s most active divers fit the following profile: 

• Age—Between 38 and 53 years old—Mean: 45 Median: 46 

15 

• 76 percent are male 

• Household Income—56 percent make between $75,000 and $100,000 

• Occupation—80 percent are White-Collar/Professional/Technical/Management 

• Home ownership—93 percent own their own home 

• Mortgage amount—Median of $148,000 

• Marital Status—71 percent married 

• Presence and age of children—17 percent have kids under 18 

Generally an affluent demographic such as described above is concerned with the 

environment and with the sustainable use of natural resources (Source: Murch, 

Arvin. 1971. ‘‘Public Concern for Environmental Pollution.’’ Public Opinion Quarterly 35:100–106). The environmental concerns of divers are consistent with this 

study. 

A 2003 study by Flexo, Hiner and Partners (FHP), which included divers and nondivers in the age range of 20 to 59, indicated that 81 percent participate in aquatic 

activities because they wish to be ‘‘closer to nature.’’ In addition, a 2005 study by 

Knowledge Networks indicates that adults within this demographic (age 41–59) are 

attracted to ‘‘Adventure Activities’’ indicating an affinity for nature or ‘‘eco-related’’ 

activities (See Exhibit B). 

Scuba divers and snorkelers regularly participate in such activities as underwater 

photography, observing and counting fish, reporting environmental concerns to state 

and Federal authorities, and participating in beach and submerged coastal cleanup activities. Non-profit, U.S.-based organizations, such as The Reef Environmental 

Education Foundation (REEF), the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), and the Project 

AWARE Foundation provide many opportunities for divers and others to understand 

more about reefs, ecosystem management, sustainable tourism, and how to become 

effective environmental advocates. To date for example, REEF has involved divers 

in more than 118,000 surveys of aquatic life, contributing to the knowledge base in 

areas of fish populations and invasive species. During almost two decades, Project 

AWARE Foundation has completed thousands of beach and underwater clean-up activities involving divers and non-divers with an interest in protecting the marine 

and aquatic environments. 

A study by Knowledge Networks in 2005 indicated there are 60 million active 

travelers vacationing specifically for outdoor activities, one-third of which are over 

the age of 45. The Outdoor Industry Association Foundation indicates that adults 

with similar demographic characteristics as those of the most active divers are predisposed to water-related activities on vacation. This predisposition appears to be 

related to their desire to observe the diversity of marine environments accessible 

first-hand only to divers and snorkelers, and helps explain the attraction of diving 

to the described adult population. In fact, some organizations use this environmental concern as a means of promoting diving and attracting new diving participants. 

In conclusion of this point, divers and diving professionals, and all of those connected with the diving industry actively observe and protect the environment on 

which they depend for recreation, and for their livelihoods. Perhaps John J. Cronin, 

one of the founders of PADI said it best, ‘‘If divers do not take an active role in 

preserving the aquatic realm, who will?’’ 

Economic Impact of Access to Healthy Dive Sites: the Economics of 

Recreational Diving and Snorkeling 

There are approximately 2.7 to 3.5 million active divers in the U.S. alone, with 

estimates as high as 6 million worldwide. According to Understanding the Potential 

Economic Impact of SCUBA Diving and Snorkeling: California (2006), Linwood H. 

Pendleton, Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering Program at 

the University of California, Los Angeles, estimated that by 2010 there would be 

about 11 million snorkelers in the US. PADI estimates that there are some 20 million snorkelers worldwide. 

Leeworthy and Wiley estimate that about 5.07 percent of the U.S. population participates in snorkeling (approximately 11 million) and they participate at the rate 

of 92.5 million diver-days annually. Leeworthy and Wiley further estimate that 1.35 

percent of the U.S. population participates in scuba diving (about 2.79 million) at 

the rate of 22.8 million diver-days annually (See Exhibit F). 

A 2006 DEMA study indicated that divers remain active in the sport for a long 

time. Studies indicate that divers have a participation ‘‘half-life’’ of about 5 years. 

That is, some 5 years after receiving their initial training and diver ‘‘certification,’’ 

about 50 percent of the diver population will have discontinued their diving activity. 

Approximately 5 years later an additional 50 percent of the initial diver population 

16 

will cease or reduce diving activities, and so on. In the U.S. about 200,000 new divers are trained and certified each year. 

Interestingly, many ‘‘divers’’ never actually become ‘‘certified.’’ A large number (by 

some estimates more than one million globally) participate in ‘‘try diving’’ experiences. These individuals are under the direct supervision of a diving professional, 

and though they never complete a certification course, they nonetheless participate 

in diving activities, many on living coral reefs in the ocean. They are therefore impacted by potential environmental degradation such as ocean acidification. 

Recreational scuba divers and snorkelers contribute to U.S. and international 

tourism revenue by purchasing dive trips, equipment and other diving-related items, 

and by spending on ancillary items such as hotels, food, fuel, air, water and ground 

transportation, and other items while traveling to local and distant dive destinations. Divers contribute to sales tax revenues for local counties, municipalities and 

states, and to Federal and state tax revenues through the creation of diving tourism-related jobs. 

Divers visit natural and artificial reefs, as well as other bodies of water to observe 

natural or man-made structures. Recreational diving is, therefore, possible under a 

variety of conditions and in a variety of locations. Most are attracted to clear warm 

water, and natural coral reefs and clean ocean environments play a key role in developing the ‘‘market value’’ of these diving experiences. 

Natural Reefs: Trade and Industry Value Including Snorkeling and Scuba Diving 

Numerous individual economic studies have contributed to the economic picture 

of recreational diving and the value of natural reefs in terms of usage, tourism revenue, goods and services, and shoreline protection. Several of these are cited here. 

Overall Reef Value 

According to Coral Reef Ecosystems Value: Enhancing Resilient Communities presented during Capitol Hill Ocean Week, June 4, 2008, Billy D. Causey, Ph.D., Regional Director, Southeast Region, National Marine Sanctuaries (See Exhibit C— 

Florida Coral Reefs Recreational Use), natural coral reefs contribute some $375 billion in goods and services annually to the world. Rodney V. Salm, PhD in his presentation, Taking the Heat in Tropical Seas (also for Capitol Hill Ocean Week, June 

4, 2008) indicated that the average value of coral reefs was estimated to be about 

$813,000/sq. mile for recreational use, food, jobs and other services combined. A 2002 study of Hawaii estimated the value of that state’s coral reefs at $364 million. It was noted in this same presentation that reefs provided shoreline protection 

that would otherwise cost an estimated $400,000 to $24 million/mile. In the Caribbean, shoreline protection provided by coral reefs is valued between $0.7 billion and 

$2.2 billion. 

Clearly, natural reefs have a significant impact on local and state economies in 

the U.S. as well as providing cost savings in terms of shoreline protection. 

Value of Recreational Divers and Snorkelers Attracted to Natural Reefs 

Recreational divers, snorkelers, fishers, and others are attracted by the presence 

and accessibility of coral reefs, making them a significant part of diving tourist and 

travel promotional strategies. 

In the March 2003 An Assessment of the Socio-Economic Impact of the Sinking 

of the HMS Scylla the South West Regional Economy Centre at the University of 

Plymouth indicated that for every 10,000 diver days, three full time equivalent 

(FTE) jobs were created, half of which were direct (associated directly with diving) 

and half of which were indirect (associated with hotels, restaurants and other tourist and service employers). This same study indicates a contribution to the GDP of 

approximately £669,000 (US$1,027,800) for every 10,000 diver-days (See Exhibit E). 

A 2000 report from the World Resources Institute indicates that coral reefs in the Caribbean alone contribute $2.1 billion for dive-specific tourism. This same presentation recorded more than 8.80 million visitor-days in Florida annually by 

snorkelers and scuba divers. The annual direct economic value of coral reefs to 

world tourism is estimated at some $9.6 billion. 

A study of Martin County Florida published in 2004 indicates that snorkeling on Martin County reefs generates about $465,000 in annual expenditures within the 

county, of which one-half are spent on boat, oil, and gas. Scuba diving on Martin 

County reefs generates about $672,000 in annual expenditures within the county of 

which about one-half is spent on boat, oil, and gas. For all activities combined, the 

use of natural reefs generates $6,886,000 in annual expenditures within the county. 

Total annual reef-related expenditures, including natural and artificial reefs, are estimated at $12,000,000. 

According to the Socioeconomic Study of Reefs in Southeast Florida (October 2001, 

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, National Oceanic and AtmosVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
17 

pheric Administration, in association with Florida State University), reef-related expenditures generated over $4.395 billion in sales in Palm Beach, Broward, MiamiDade and Monroe Counties combined, during the 12-month period from June 2000 

to May 2001. These sales resulted in generating $2.047 billion in income to Palm 

Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe County residents during the same time 

period. During the same period, reef-related expenditures provided 71,300 full and 

part-time jobs in these four southeast Florida counties. Two-thirds of the economic 

contribution was associated with natural reef-related expenditures in Miami-Dade 

and Palm Beach Counties, 75 percent of the economic contribution was associated 

with natural reefs in Monroe County, and about fifty percent was associated with 

natural reefs in Broward County (See Exhibit A—Economic Contribution of Reef-Related Expenditures in Four Florida Counties). 

It should be clear that recreational diving and snorkeling contribute significantly 

to tourism-related businesses, in addition to the revenue contribution from diving 

activities derived directly by diving-related businesses. It should also be clear that 

recreational diving and snorkeling generate jobs in many different sectors, some of 

which are highly specialized, requiring extensive training. 

Economic Concerns of Recreational Scuba Diving and Snorkeling 

Regarding Loss of Coral Reefs or Coral Reef Access Due to Ocean 

Acidification 

The recreational diving industry is dependent on the availability of quality diving 

and snorkeling sites, and this economic dependency extends to hotels, restaurants, 

marinas and other businesses associated with coastal and coral reef diving activities. 

As noted, it is estimated that three full time equivalent (FTE) jobs are created 

for every additional 10,000 diver-days. With approximately 115 million combined 

snorkeling and scuba diver-days annually in the U.S. alone, it is projected that such 

recreational diving activity, through direct and indirect contributions, delivers about 

$11 billion to the U.S. annual GDP (See Exhibits E and F) and creates more than 

340,000 FTE jobs. 

The Effects of Ocean Acidification and the Human Side of Coral Reef Loss 

There are approximately 1,800 retail dive centers in the United States, most offering diving instruction, diving equipment sales and rental, providing clean filtered 

breathing air, and often selling dive travel (for a complete listing of retail dive store 

fronts, see www.BeADiver.com). There are more than 200 international destination 

DEMA members, many of which depend almost solely on healthy coral reefs to attract scuba divers and snorkelers. 

These businesses are the ‘‘customer interface’’ for the diving industry. They are 

the conduit by which diving equipment manufacturers, training organizations, the 

media and travel access potential diving consumers. All of these (typically larger) 

businesses depend to some extent on the retail dive center or its Internet equivalent. Without retail stores and tourist diving destinations, the industry cannot easily 

reach customers and the scuba and snorkel diving industries suffer. 

Many of these retail businesses are small or micro-businesses, most are independently owned and operated, and many are family operations, providing household income which puts children through school, buys homes, and feeds and clothes the entire family. These businesses are also job centers for specialized and highly trained 

professionals such as diving instructors, underwater photographers, biologists, aspiring writers, life-support service technicians, Coast Guard-licensed vessel captains, 

and a variety of others. 

Undoubtedly, losing coral reefs due to ocean acidification, or losing access to coral 

reefs for any reason would be economically detrimental to the recreational scuba 

and snorkeling industries in the U.S. and in every nation or territory that enjoys 

access to these natural wonders. Such loss would be devastating to members of the 

diving community and their families, and would place an economic burden on the 

coastal communities which depend on recreational diving and snorkeling for their 

livelihood. 

Research and Policies 

By investigating both the economic and environmental impacts of ocean acidification, the Congress is being appropriately cautious and prudent in their actions. The 

recreational scuba diving and snorkeling industries could be detrimentally impacted 

by regulatory policies that create more immediate cost or reduction of access when 

such policies may be unnecessary or overly burdensome. In times of economic downturn the recreational diving industries experience many of the same circumstances 

as do other small recreational businesses; reduced revenue, fewer new customers, 

and less overall participation. According to a recent CNBC article (Survey: Pilates 

18 

Exploding, Darts & Billiards Plummeting, published Tuesday, 30 Mar 2010), this 

reduced participation is common to many other water-related activities, ‘‘Water 

sports are almost toxic. Since 2000, jet skiing (down 18.5 percent), scuba diving 

(36.7 percent) and water skiing (44.5 percent) have seen massive declines.’’ 

To introduce regulation without the critical research input that this Congress is 

now sensibly seeking may adversely impact these industries during the first fragile 

part of the economic recovery. By understanding more about the economics of ocean 

acidification on the diving industries, and on the families that participate in these 

businesses, it should be possible to balance the long term environmental needs of 

the oceans and reefs, with the more immediate concerns of those that help their customers enjoy the ocean environment. 

Since its inception DEMA as an organization has worked for the betterment of 

the environmentally sensitive resources on which our industries depend, while balancing the needs of diving businesses, and encouraging diving consumers to further 

protect these resources. Our efforts to protect the ocean, create jobs and recruit additional stewards for oceans and coral reefs have been enhanced by programs such 

as our Ships 2 Reefs program, providing information to those who would create environmentally safe artificial reefs. Using retired ships, carefully submerged in appropriate locations, takes fishing and diving pressure off natural reefs and helps increase aquatic life populations. DEMA’s efforts resulted in the Ships 2 Reefs legislation enacted in Florida in 2008. DEMA has also been privileged to advocate for the 

reauthorization of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and comment on establishment of Marine Life Protected Areas, as well as other efforts to protect the underwater environment. We openly offer our assistance in understanding the economics 

of these industries or in other ways that make the most sense to this committee. 

Suggestions from the Recreational Scuba and Snorkeling Industries 

DEMA applauds the Congress for their efforts and recognition that there is a need 

for additional economic and environmental investigation with regard to impacts of 

ocean acidification or other factors which might limit or prevent access to natural 

coral reefs. DEMA suggests that such economic and environmental investigations 

should: 

1. include input from all user groups 

2. provide for a clear balance between the long-term environmental health and 

of this critical resource and the immediate economic issues such as access limitations and regulations that impact the industry and the cost to participate in 

diving 

The Diving Industry’s Interest in Continued Participation in the Economic 

Investigation of the Effects of Ocean Acidification 

DEMA and the recreational scuba diving and snorkeling industries appreciate the 

opportunity to be included in this economic discussion regarding the effects of ocean 

acidification. As the trade association for the recreational diving industries, DEMA 

has a strong interest in additional and continuing opportunities to contribute suggestions and ideas with regard to policy considerations and related activities. 

Conclusion 

In closing, DEMA strongly supports the economic and environmental investigation 

of the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs being undertaken by this committee. The recreational scuba diving and snorkeling industries can continue to be 

a formidable instrument in this committee’s toolbox for discovering, reporting, 

studying and evaluating the impact of ocean acidification by providing first-hand information in areas such as coral reefs status, fish counts and other observable areas. 

DEMA willingly offers its assistance in these areas and looks forward to working 

with Congress to ensure that there remains a balance of consideration between the 

immediate economic issues and the long term health of the critical coral reef and 

ocean resources. 

Thank you for the opportunity to offer my thoughts on how the diving industry 

could be economically impacted by ocean acidification. 

19 

EXHIBITS

Exhibit A—Economic Contribution of Reef-Related Expenditures in Four 

Southeast Florida Counties 

Economic Contribution of Reef-Related Expenditures to Each County 

June 2000 to May 2001—Residents and Visitors 

Type of Economic Contribution Palm Beach County 

Broward 

County 

Miami-Dade County Monroe 

County 

Sales—All Reefs (in millions of 2,000 dollars) $505 $2,069 $1,297 $490 

Artificial Reefs $148 $961 $419 $127 

Natural Reefs $357 $1,108 $878 $363 

Income—All Reefs (in millions of 2,000 dollars) $194 $1,049 $614 $139 

Artificial Reefs $52 $502 $195 $33 

Natural Reefs $142 $547 $419 $106 

Employment—All Reefs (number of full- and part-time jobs) 6,300 36,000 19,000 10,000 

Artificial Reefs 1,800 17,000 6,000 2,000 

Natural Reefs 4,500 19,000 13,000 8,000 

Source: Socioeconomic Study of Reefs in Southeast Florida, Johns, Leeworthy, Bell, Bonn 

Exhibit B—Top 10 Adventure Activities of Adult Travelers 

Top 10 Adventure Activities on the ‘‘Most Adventurous Trip’’ for adults age 41 to 59: 

1. Hiking/backpacking/rock and mountain climbing 

2. Escorted or guided tour 

3. Snorkeling 

4. Camping (tent) 

5. Fresh or saltwater fishing 

6. Horseback riding (tied for 6th) 

6. Biking (tied for 6th) 

7. Whitewater rafting/kayaking 

8. Sailing 

9. RV camping 

10. Scuba diving 

Source: 2005 Travel Survey, Knowledge Networks 

Exhibit C—Florida Coral Reefs Recreational Use 

Recreational Use of Coral Reefs in Florida 

Snorkeling 4.24 million visitor days 

Scuba Diving 4.56 million visitor days 

Fishing 9.72 million visitor days 

Glass-bottom Boats 0.12 million visitor days 

TOTAL 18.64 million visitor days 

Ref: Dr. Vernon R. Leeworthy, Chief Economist, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries 

20 

Exhibit D—Recreational value of coral reefs in Hawaii in 2001 (US dollars) 

Consumer 

Surplus 

Value Added of 

Direct 

Expenditure 

Value Added of 

Indirect Expenditure 

Multiplier 

Effect 

Total Value 

Added 

Snorkelers 

Residents 10,053,899 2,318,704 — 579,676 12,952,279 

U.S. West 47,833,826 20,882,055 23,136,504 11,004,640 102,857,025 

U.S. East 33,174,006 14,482,250 20,450,444 8,733,174 76,839,874 

Japan 13,340,508 5,823,854 2,189,058 2,003,228 23,356,648 

Canada 5,236,964 2,286,218 3,587,133 1,468,338 12,578,653 

Europe 3,809,326 1,662,977 2,246,766 977,436 8,696,505 

Other 11,782,791 5,143,826 6,794,101 2,984,482 26,705,200 

Subtotal 125,231,322 52,599,883 58,404,007 27,750,973 263,986,183 

Scuba Divers 

Residents 3,450,231 5,137,088 — 1,284,272 9,871,591 

U.S. West 1,588,179 3,152,878 3,545,777 1,674,664 9,961,498 

U.S. East 1,101,444 2,186,603 3,134,126 1,330,182 7,752,355 

Japan 1,255,768 2,492,969 2,710,742 1,300,928 7,760,407 

Canada 173,878 345,185 549,745 223,733 1,292,541 

Europe 126,477 251,085 344,327 148,853 870,742 

Other 391,212 776,641 1,041,228 454,467 2,663,548 

Subtotal 8,087,190 14,342,448 11,325,946 6,417,099 40,172,682 

Total Recreational Value 

Residents 13,504,130 7,455,792 — 1,863,948 22,823,870 

U.S. West 49,422,006 24,034,932 26,682,281 12,679,303 112,818,522 

U.S. East 34,275,450 16,668,853 23,584,570 10,063,356 84,592,229 

Japan 14,596,276 8,316,823 4,899,800 3,304,156 31,117,055 

Canada 5,410,842 2,631,403 4,136,878 1,692,070 13,871,193 

Europe 3,935,804 1,914,062 2,591,094 1,126,289 9,567,249 

Other 12,174,003 5,920,467 7,835,329 3,438,949 29,368,748 

Total 133,318,511 66,942,331 69,729,953 34,168,071 304,158,866 

Multiplier effect: The total economic contribution of the reefs of Hawaii includes the contribution of reef expenditures to sales, in- come and employment. Expenditures by visitors generate income and jobs within industries that supply reef-related goods and serv- ices, such as charter/party boat operations, restaurants and hotels. These industries are called direct industries. In addition the vis- itor expenditures create multiplier effects wherein additional income and employment is created as the income earned by the reef related industries and their employees, is re-spent in the local economy. These additional effects of reef-related expenditures are called indirect and induced. Indirect effects are generated as the reef-related industries purchase goods and services from other industries lo- cally. Induced effects are created when the employees of the direct and indirect spend their money locally. 

21 

Exhibit E—The Impact of Scylla on the South West Economy with 

Projected U.S. GDP 

The Impact of Scylla on the South West Economy 

Extra Diver Days U.S. Diver-Days 

115,300,000 

2500 5000 7500 10000 

Employment (FTE) 

Direct 3.9 7.7 11.6 15.5 

Indirect 3.5 7.1 10.6 14.2 Projected U.S. 

Employment (FTE) 

342,441 

Total 7.4 14.8 22.2 29.7 

GDP (£) 

Direct 66,060 132,120 198,180 264,240 

Indirect 101,275 202,551 303,826 405,102 

Total 167,335 334,671 502,006 669,342 

TOTAL Contribution to GDP Projected U.S. GDP 

Contribution 

(Direct and Indirect) 

US$11,856,415,621.34 

Exhibit F—Participation in SCUBA and Snorkeling Recreation (2000) 

Participation Rate (%)* Number of Participants 

(millions)*

Number of Days 

(millions)***

United States 

Snorkeling 5.07 10.46 92.5 

Scuba Diving 1.35 2.79 22.8 

California 

Snorkeling 0.34 0.71 3.818 

Scuba Diving 0.14 0.29 1.383 

From Leeworthy and Wiley (2001), *Percent of the U.S. population that participated in the activity, **Number of participants is

equal to the participation rate multiplied by the non-institutionalized population 16-years or older in all households in the U.S. as of 

September 1999, ***The number of days the respondents participated in each activity over a year. Note figures from top to bottom 

of table differ due to the use of different base population levels in each report. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Mr. Ingram. And we have a lot 

of diving in the Northwest, although people don’t believe that, because they think it’s dark and cold waters, but they are—— 

Mr. INGRAM. It’s beautiful there. 

Senator CANTWELL. Yes, right off—right where I live, in 

Edmunds, Washington—— 

Mr. INGRAM. Oh, you bet. 

Senator CANTWELL.—there is a big underground city that people 

dive to, so—— 

Mr. INGRAM. We’re very privileged to see all of that stuff that you 

saw in the video, firsthand. 

Senator CANTWELL.—yes, thank you. 

Mr. Waters, welcome. We look forward to your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF DONALD A. WATERS, 

COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA 

Mr. WATERS. Good evening. Thank you, Chair Cantwell, Ranking 

Member Snowe. And I also want to thank the Senators of the Gulf 

State regions for my support and their hard work to promote sustainable fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. 

22 

I have been a fisherman owner-operator for most of my life in 

reef fishing—better part of four decades. My home port is in Pensacola, Florida. I currently fish for red snapper and king mackerel. 

I’ve also participated in other fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, and 

I also participate in stock-assessment panels for red snapper and 

king mackerel. 

In this business, we have to keep our eyes open and be prepared 

to what we meet on the ocean. In my opinion, this is something 

that’s unseen as we have our battles amongst the commercial fishermen on how we want to do policy, catch shares, no-catch shares, 

this, that. And this seems to be something that has been put on 

the back burner by a lot of the commercial fishermen, but it seems 

to be really creeping up on us. And it was my first eye opener, 

when I came up last December to testify in front of some of my 

Senators on some of the changes in Magnuson-Stevens. And I met 

Mark Wiegardt, from Oregon, and his oyster hatchery there, and 

got to talking to him, and he was telling me how the oysters were 

just dying off from acidification. And I—you know, I just kind of 

said, ‘‘Well, if that’s really going on in a closed-loop circuit, what’s 

really going on in the wild?’’ So, it really got my attention. 

So, the more that I thought about it and started investigating 

and started reading up on it, I learned things, you know, about 

what is really happening in the wild, what is happening to the food 

for our commercial fin fish. This acidification could just totally devastate the food chain, therefore we would lose our main fin fish 

that we harvest for the customers of the United States. These are 

the citizens, they own a part of this resource. 

So, I—it just upset me dearly. And I know I’m kind of talking 

behind everybody that’s a whole lot more speaker, but this is just— 

to me, this is just a—— 

Senator CANTWELL. Mr. Waters? 

Mr. WATERS.—devastating—— 

Senator CANTWELL. Mr. Waters, I think you’re actually stealing 

the show. You’re doing such—— 

Mr. WATERS. Yes, I mean—[Laughter.] 

Mr. WATERS.—as you can all tell, I’m a commercial fisherman, 

not a public speaker. But, this is just—to me, would be totally upsetting. It would just totally destroy our economic survival—I 

mean, in a whole nationwide capacity. The—it’s just—the whole 

bearing of it is just incomparable. I mean, it’s just something that 

you can’t imagine. If you could—if you lost the jobs, the men, the 

boats—it’s just—I mean, it—to me, it’s just—you can’t even speak 

of the devastation that our country would be facing if our oceans 

turned, more or less, into poison. 

I mean, I know that this is basically off of my written testimony, 

but it just really takes—just really takes it to my heart. And I’m 

speaking with passion, I’m speaking from my heart. And I know 

my fellow fishermen, sometimes we compete—we compete hard in 

the fields, and we—you know, it’s a competitive—but, this is something that we have to join hands with, and we have to move forward with, and we have to get a hold of. We need to move forward 

and try to protect, because this is something that we do need to 

fight over; this is something that we need to join up with and move 

forward with. 

23 

And my opinion is that this is something that we need to be 

proactive on, and not reactive to something after it’s too late. 

And I’m sorry that I really can’t sit here and stay straight to my 

written testimony. My written testimony’s from the heart, too. But, 

when I start speaking—I’m sorry I have to speak with such passion, because this is a devastating ghost lurking in the shadows 

that would just totally devastate our economy in this country. Because without the shores and the beaches and the restaurants, 

the—I mean, it would just change our whole lives. We would be— 

I mean, I can’t even explain it. I mean, you could use your imagination, and it takes you to another world. 

Mr. INGRAM. It sure does. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Waters follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DONALD A. WATERS, COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA

Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Snowe, and members of the Committee, I would 

like to thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony of my concerns about ocean 

acidification and its possible effect on fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and other U.S. 

waters. And I would also like to express my appreciation for all the support that 

I have received in the past from my Gulf State Senators. It has been a privilege 

to work together to keep our fisheries sustainable. 

I have been an owner-operator fisherman for most of my life, reef fishing for the 

better part of four decades. My home port is Pensacola, Florida. I currently fish for 

red snapper and king mackerel but have also worked the waters of the Gulf of Mexico for others species. People need to work hard on and off the water to keep our 

fisheries sustainable, so I am heavily involved in the fisheries management process, 

participating on both the red snapper and king mackerel assessment panels. 

In this business we have to keep our eyes and ears open. When an issue comes 

up that could affect my fishery and livelihood, I learn everything I can about it. 

That’s what I’ve done since I first heard about ocean acidification. 

I don’t pretend to be an expert on ocean acidification but I do know this problem 

is real, and we need to get on top of it. I first got word of ocean acidification not 

long ago, in December 2009, when I was in D.C. to talk with my Senators and Representatives about proposed changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. I ran into a 

group of fishermen and shellfish growers who were in D.C. to talk to their Senators 

about ocean acidification. 

One of the shellfish growers I met was Mark Wiegardt from the Whiskey Creek 

Shellfish Hatchery in Netarts, Oregon. Three or four years ago, for no apparent reason, the oyster larvae that Mark grows for a living started dying in the first few 

days of their lives. The usual culprits, like marine bacterial infections, turned out 

to be innocent this time. After a few years of major larvae die-offs and barely staying in business, scientists working with Mark and his partners correlated the dieoffs with upwelling deep water that is acidified by high concentrations of CO2. For 

juvenile oysters, the water was corrosive, and larvae simply couldn’t survive in it. 

The other people in the group I met in December were mostly fishermen from 

Washington and Alaska. They saw the problem of larval shellfish die-offs as a canary in a coal mine. It was a problem to get ahead of before it expanded to their 

fisheries. If the seawater that was pumped into the hatchery from the ocean was 

killing the oyster larvae, what was going on in the wild? Wild larval shellfish and 

other tiny marine plants and animals are the food source for most commercially important finfish in their juvenile stages of life. The way these fishermen saw it, less 

food for juvenile fish would mean fewer adult fish to catch. Sometimes it doesn’t 

take much to push a stock below the threshold for commercial production. No fish 

means no fishermen. I started to consider fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and how 

ocean acidification might affect us. 

I have learned since I started looking into ocean acidification that: 

• Research shows that CO2 emissions from burning of fossil fuels and other man 

made sources of CO2 are absorbed into the ocean from the atmosphere. In the 

ocean, the CO2 reacts to form carbonic acid. The acid changes the ocean’s chemistry. 

• As a fisherman I can tell you that a lot of us aren’t sure where we stand on 

climate change, but ocean acidification is real. It has been documented by reVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
24 

searchers all over the world and there is no doubt that the pH of the ocean is 

dropping, becoming more acidic. Measurement show that the open ocean, on average, is about 30 percent more acidic today than it was before the Industrial 

Revolution. In some places, like the West coast, local factors compound that 

change in seawater. With upwelling or the kind of conditions that produce nutrient-driven hypoxia like we get in the Gulf of Mexico, seawater can become 

corrosive to some of the fish and shellfish and to the species they eat. 

• Mixing CO2 into seawater doesn’t just make it more acidic. The carbonic acid 

from CO2 changes a lot of the ocean’s chemistry. For one thing, it reduces the 

availability of nutrients in seawater that clams, oysters, crabs, lobsters; corals 

need to build and maintain their shells and skeletons. They absorb nutrients 

from the seawater. The increased acidity depletes those nutrients. That makes 

it harder (and sometimes impossible) for a lot of these shell-builders to survive. 

• Even small changes in the ocean’s chemistry can disrupt the marine food web 

and cause trouble for fish higher in feeding order. For fishermen to make a living, we need fish stocks that are abundant and dense enough so we can harvest 

them efficiently. 

• Cold water absorbs more CO2 than warm water. The oceans in high latitude 

places like Alaska are more acidic than the warmer waters nearer the equator. 

• For a lot of species, it looks like they are most vulnerable in early life, especially 

their larval stages. 

• Even adult shellfish, corals and other calcifiers show slower rates of shell building, diminished reproduction, muscle wastage, and other problems when exposed to acidified seawater. 

What does ocean acidification mean for fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico? 

In the Gulf of Mexico, we already experience serious impacts from the dead zones 

that are usually attributed to hypoxia. The coastal communities that rely on the 

shrimp and oyster industries and fishing are beginning to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the other storms that followed on her heels. 

New management tools that fishermen and managers put in place have helped to 

rebuild fish stocks. The last thing we need is to have our recovery efforts threatened 

by something we didn’t even see coming. 

I have invested a lot of my time and money to participate in reef fishing. I don’t 

go out to sea unprepared for whatever might come up while I am on the water. 

Right now I feel like those of us in the Gulf States have no idea what we may be 

up against with ocean acidification. So far, it looks like there isn’t much research 

yet on this problem in the Gulf I found out about one study by USGS that’s meant 

to create baseline data on ocean chemistry for the West Florida shelf. That’s a start, 

but it’s not enough. We ought to be monitoring the Gulf so we can recognize changes 

when they come our way. For instance, if this is affecting coral, we need to know. 

We need healthy reefs to have a healthy reef fishery. 

Commercial fishing and the shellfish industry in the Gulf of Mexico are not only 

important to the fishermen and the coastal communities that they live in. Inland 

regions of the Gulf States also receive the benefits of the seafood industry. I offload 

fish in both Florida and Louisiana so let’s consider the State of Louisiana. Commercial saltwater fishing has a dockside value of $264.9 million in Louisiana. Once that 

seafood leaves the fishing boat, hits the dock and gets into distribution that dockside value turns into retail sales of $1.8 billion with a total economic impact that 

is ripples out to $2.3 billion. Shellfish and commercial fishing support 26,345 jobs 

from the dock to inland in Louisiana. Every person who touches that fish from ocean 

to plate sees the economic benefit. The state and local tax revenues that result from 

the seafood industry are $166.9 million in Louisiana. These numbers show that commercial fishing and the shellfish industry play a big part in the providing jobs and 

a viable economy in Louisiana. 

If the fisheries of the Gulf States went away the impact would be felt nationwide. 

The money from our healthy fisheries works its way through marinas, repair shops, 

gas stations, fish gear shops, grocery stores, lodging, seafood restaurants—the list 

goes on. So you can see a lot of people have an economic interest in keeping our 

fisheries strong. And we haven’t even considered the revenue and jobs from recreational fishing or the saltwater tourist industry with people who want to walk on 

beaches or dive on reefs. 

I’ve talked about the Gulf of Mexico because that is where I work, where I live, 

and what I know. The 2008 edition NOAA’s annual document called ‘‘Fisheries of 

the United States’’ looked at fisheries landings and how the value is amplified as 

our catch moves from the fisherman to the consumer. Nationwide, the revenues 

swell from the dock to the dinner plate: 

25 

• Fishermen $4.5 billion 

• Processors $7.6 billion 

• Exporters $23.4 billion 

• Importers $28.5 billion 

• U.S. commercial marine fisheries industry $35 billion (producing and marketing 

fishery products for domestic and foreign markets) 

• Consumers: $69.8 billion (about two thirds in food service venues, one third in 

stores) 

Fishing is a way of life for me and a whole lot of other people from coast to coast. 

Fish and shellfish provide jobs and food. The ocean that makes all this possible 

needs to be taken care of. People are seeing changes on the water and we don’t yet 

know why. Without increased research and monitoring we are not going to find out 

if ocean acidification is eating our lunch. Looking the other way and hoping for the 

best is not the way I respond to challenges to my livelihood. It’s not the way we 

should respond as a country, either. I think that it would better to be proactive than 

reactive. 

I want to thank the Chair and members of this subcommittee for taking a good 

hard look at this problem and how it might affect the country. In closing I hope that 

you can supply adequate funding for monitoring and research on ocean acidification. 

Let’s keep our eyes open. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Mr. Waters. 

Mr. WATERS. Thank you, ma’am. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you for that testimony. It’s very—we 

appreciate it very much. 

[Applause.] 

Senator CANTWELL. And I think that you are right, it takes that 

passion to convince people. And you’re right, it’s unfathomable 

what would happen. And I thank you for delving into it, and understanding, and for bringing a real face and passion to that issue. So, 

we thank you. 

Dr. Barry? 

STATEMENT OF JAMES P. BARRY, PH.D., SENIOR SCIENTIST, 

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE (MBARI) 

AND MEMBER, COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENT OF AN 

INTEGRATED SCIENCE STRATEGY FOR OCEAN 

ACIDIFICATION MONITORING, RESEARCH, AND IMPACTS 

ASSESSMENT, NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, 

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES 

Dr. BARRY. Sometimes you just have to stand up and shout because things are changing. And I hope that the science about ocean 

acidification is incorrect, actually; but there are so many unknowns 

with this that we’re not sure about how it will translate into ecosystems services. In many cases, it looks a little bit scary. But, it’s 

nice to have passion about issues. Now I’ll start my testimony. 

Good morning, Madam Chair, Ranking Member Snowe, and 

members of the Committee. My name is Jim Barry. I’m a marine 

biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, where 

we perform research and development—technology development for 

important issues in ocean science. 

Today, I’m going to highlight some information concerning ocean 

acidification based on research from myself and others, and then 

touch briefly on the report summary that was released today from 

the National Research Council’s Committee on Ocean Acidification. 

Carbon dioxide emissions are now being absorbed in the ocean’s 

surface at a massive rate. Roughly 1 million tons per hour enter 

26 

the sea surface, leading to higher CO2 levels, increased acidity, and 

reduced levels of calcium carbonate minerals that are important to 

the formation of shells and skeletons by a wide variety of marine 

organisms. 

Changes that we expect to occur by the end of this century as 

ocean acidification intensifies will be the largest and most rapid 

shift in ocean chemistry thought to have occurred for many millions of years, if the science is right about this. 

Ocean acidification does not affect ecosystems directly, it affects 

individual marine organisms. And marine organisms faced with 

ocean acidification, or other environmental stresses, respond based 

on physiological adaptations that have been developed throughout 

their evolutionary history. They may respond by acclimation, adaptation, or extinction. 

Individuals may acclimate to new conditions by adjusting their 

physiology a bit. Over generations, adaptation may allow species to 

tolerate new conditions. If not, generate—or, extinction is the only 

other option. The ability to acclimate, or adapt, is expected to vary 

greatly among organisms and among habitats in the oceans. 

Several physiological functions are affected by ocean acidification. Photosynthesis, calcification, the formation of these skeletons, 

acid-based balance of our internal tissues, and metabolic rates 

are—as well as respiration rates—are all important processes that 

can be affected by environmental stress of any kind. Some photosynthetic species exposed to ocean acidification may benefit, but 

many animals may be stressed by these higher CO2 levels. 

Can I have the first slide, please? 

On this graph, I’d like to talk about changes in physiological performance and how they play out with environmental stress, because they have consequences for individuals that then play out 

through the food web. 

So, this is just a simple pie diagram, on the left, that shows how 

much we’re spending, or how much an organism spends on taking 

care of its body; the cost of living, you might think about it. And 

you can think of this as the same as a household budget; that cost 

of living is just as much as, maybe, how much we pay for rent. And 

when we have an income we pay for rent, the rest of it goes to education and toys. And for animals it goes to growth and reproduction. 

Now, if our cost of living goes up, the rent goes up, we just can’t 

buy as many toys. But, for an individual organism that’s more 

stressed, if it has to spend more energy taking care of its body, 

there’s less energy for growth and reproduction. Now, for that individual what happens is, it may grow more slowly, it may reach a 

smaller size, and it may die earlier. And that translates, through 

the population, to a lower abundance of those sorts of animals in 

the ocean, maybe a lower productivity for the food chain up above 

it, as well as a greater likelihood of extinction of that species. 

Next slide, please. 

Ecosystem performance—for example, how many fish actually 

are taken by humans or make it up to the top of the food chain— 

depends upon the flow of energy through food webs. Any change in 

the abundance or loss of key species due to environmental stress 

can disrupt this flow of energy and degrade ecosystem performance. 

27 

So, if we start pulling out important species in this food web, 

maybe we can do that for awhile, but as we lose too many, you can 

collapse that. And if—in extreme cases, this can lead to ecological 

tipping points; for example, the failure of a fishery. 

Next slide, please. 

There is much we can learn from Earth history. This is a slide 

of the number of animals on Earth from 542 million years ago to 

the present, starting from right to left. And those black arrows 

point out where we’ve had mass extinctions on Earth. 

CO2 levels have been much, much higher in the past, more than 

25 times higher than they are now, and life has thrived. But, there 

have been many episodes of mass extinction during the past 600 

million years of Earth history, several causing more than 70 percent of all species to be lost. Coral reefs disappeared during most 

of these massive extinctions. Each of these events is associated 

with a rapid change in environmental conditions. Life recovered, 

but that recovery required 10 to 20 million years. 

The general lesson is that when the environment changes, many 

species may, and do, go extinct. The change in condition during 

these extinctions was far greater than we’re experiencing now, but 

how much environmental change is too much? 

Next slide, please. 

Because this field is relatively new, there are major uncertainties 

in how future ocean acidification will affect ecosystems. Marine 

fisheries are a good example. Will changes in primary productivity 

at the base of the food chain lead to more or less fish at the top? 

What about coral reefs? The preponderance of the recent scientific 

literature, and the fossil records, suggest very strongly that coral 

reefs may be in real trouble, both because of ocean acidification and 

other environmental change. It’s my view that ocean acidification 

is very likely to affect various vulnerable ecosystems, leading to 

changes in ecosystem resources and services important to society. 

Now, a touch on the NRC report. The NRC Ocean Acidification 

Committee released, today, a summary of their report, ‘‘Ocean 

Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a 

Changing Ocean.’’ In this report, we outline a plan for observations 

and monitoring of ocean conditions, coupled with priorities for research, to examine the potential effects of future ocean acidification 

on natural resources. 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this very important issue. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Barry follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JAMES P. BARRY, PH.D., SENIOR SCIENTIST, 

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE (MBARI) AND MEMBER, 

COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED SCIENCE STRATEGY FOR OCEAN

ACIDIFICATION MONITORING, RESEARCH, AND IMPACTS ASSESSMENT, NATIONAL

RESEARCH COUNCIL, THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Good morning Madam Chair, Ranking Member Snowe, and members of the Committee. My name is Jim Barry. I am a Senior Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), located in Moss Landing California, where I have 

been employed for nearly 19 years. MBARI is a nonprofit research and technology 

institute funded principally by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation where we 

perform research and technology development to address important issues in ocean 

science. My research concerns the biology and ecology of marine animals, particularly those inhabiting the deeper waters of the oceans. During the past several 

28 

years, my studies have focused on the effects of high ocean carbon dioxide levels on 

marine animals, from either the direct injection of waste CO2 into deep-sea waters 

or by ocean acidification due to the passive influx of CO2 from the atmosphere. I 

was a contributing author for the Special Report on Carbon Capture and Storage 

produced by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in 2005, and 

am currently serving for the National Research Council as a member of the Committee on the Development of an Integrated Science Strategy for Ocean Acidification 

Monitoring, Research, and Impacts Assessment (hereafter NRC Ocean Acidification 

Committee). The National Research Council is the operating arm of the National 

Academy of Sciences, chartered by Congress in 1863 to advise the government on 

matters of science and technology. 

This committee originated as a request from NOAA to the Ocean Studies Board, 

based on the call from Congress in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, and later the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, to conduct a study of the acidification of the oceans and how this 

process affects the United States. In addition to NOAA, input and sponsorship of 

the Committee was provided by the National Science and Technology Council Joint 

Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST), the National Science 

Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 

I commend the Committee for convening a hearing on, The Environmental and 

Economic Impacts of Ocean Acidification,—the other CO2 problem, due to the growing concern that this phenomenon may have important effects on marine organisms 

and ecosystems, as well as ecosystem services of great value to society. The history 

of ocean acidification research is relatively short. The notion that increasing carbon 

dioxide emissions absorbed through the sea surface are causing a change in ocean 

chemistry and may have important consequences for ocean biology was argued in 

the 1970s (Caldeira and Wickett, 2005). During the past ten to fifteen years, however, several studies and workshop reports have concluded that the very rapid and 

massive influx of CO2 emissions into the oceans (now over 1 million tonnes of CO2

per hour) could have very significant effects on marine ecosystems (Kleypas et al., 

1999; Raven et al., 2005; Fabry et al., 2008; Kleypas et al., 2006; Doney et al., 2009). 

In my testimony, I would like to address two main themes. First, I will provide 

my personal perspective based on my own studies and others concerning the potential effects of ocean acidification on the biology of marine organisms and how these 

affects are expected to scale up to ecosystem services important to society. Second, 

I will provide an overview of the key points and recommendations from the NRC 

Ocean Acidification Committee’s report on Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy 

to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean. The key points of my personal testimony are as follows: 

• Ocean acidification is changing the chemistry of the oceans at a scale and magnitude greater than thought to occur on Earth for many millions of years, and 

is expected to cause changes in the growth and survival of a wide variety of 

marine organisms, potentially leading to massive shifts in ocean ecosystems. 

• Ocean acidification, like other sources of environmental variation, directly affects the physiological performance of organisms, which can respond individually by acclimation (tolerance), or collectively as a species by adaptation or extinction. Sensitivity to ocean acidification is known to vary among organisms 

and habitats, including ‘‘winners’’ and ‘‘losers’’, with some photosynthetic organisms apparently benefiting, while the performance of animals is generally impaired. 

• Future changes in marine ecosystems expected to occur due to ocean acidification are poorly understood for most habitats, and difficult to predict from shortterm studies of individual species, a research approach that has dominated this 

field to date. It is expected that biodiversity in many ecosystems may decrease 

due to the generally negative impacts of ocean acidification on marine animals, 

thereby impairing ecosystem function. Severe changes could lead to ecological 

‘‘tipping points.’’ 

• Ocean goods and services important to society (e.g., marine fisheries), are dependent on the healthy function of marine ecosystems. Although it remains unclear how marine fisheries will be affected, changes in the photosynthesis at the 

base of the food chain and shifts in the growth, survival, and productivity of 

higher trophic levels due to ocean acidification are expected to lead to important 

changes in ecosystems. 

1. Ocean chemistry is changing rapidly due to the influx of fossil fuel carbon dioxide 

Roughly 40 percent of all fossil fuel emissions now reside in the oceans (Sabine 

and Tanhua 2010), and the ocean surface is 25–30 percent more acidic than prior 

29 

to human fossil fuel use. Increasing carbon dioxide emissions are expected to increase ocean acidity (pH) by ∼200 percent by the end of this century, with even 

greater changes beyond 2100. In addition to increased acidity, ocean acidification 

causes higher carbon dioxide concentrations in seawater and a reduction in the 

saturation state of calcium carbonate minerals important for shells and skeletal formation in many marine organisms. This change in ocean chemistry is far more 

rapid and larger than has occurred throughout the past 800,000 years and perhaps 

as long as 25 million years, 10 million years before the first hominids appeared on 

Earth. Eventually, over 85 percent of all emissions will reside in the ocean, and this 

carbon dioxide will mix throughout the depths of the oceans. 

2. Ocean acidification acts on the physiology of individuals 

The response of organisms to ocean acidification depends upon physiological adaptations that have allowed them to survive and function in ocean ecosystems through 

their evolutionary history. In order to be successful—to survive, grow, and reproduce—organisms must maintain physiological function throughout a range of environmental variation or suffer reduced or impaired performance. As ocean chemistry 

diverges distinctly from the natural range of variation experienced through their recent evolutionary history, the tolerance of species is expected to decline. 

Several key physiological functions are affected by ocean acidification in marine 

organisms including photosynthesis, calcification, respiration, internal acid-base balance, and metabolic rates. Photosynthesis has been observed to increase in some 

species in high-CO2 waters, although rates of calcification may be reduced. Ocean 

acidification has been shown in general to reduce the rates of calcification in many 

marine organisms, due to the reduction in the saturation of calcium carbonate minerals in seawater (e.g., Doney et al., 2009; Fabry et al., 2008). Ocean acidification 

can also disturb the internal acid-base balance of organisms, leading to reduced 

function of enzymes involved in a wide variety of fundamental biological processes. 

Increased seawater acidity can also impair oxygen transport and lead to lower metabolic rates in many organisms, which in turn limits their aerobic activity (e.g., chasing prey or escaping predators). 

Maintaining efficient physiological function in more acidic waters has been shown 

in some taxa to increase the energy required to cope with these stresses. This increased ‘‘cost of living’’ is expected to reduce the energy available for growth and 

reproduction in individuals. Reduced performance by individuals is expected to impact the entire species, leading to reduced abundance and productivity, and a greater likelihood of extinction. 

Though limited, research to date indicates that there will be ‘‘winners’’ and ‘‘losers’’ in a high CO2 ocean. In general, photosynthetic species may benefit in some 

ways from higher CO2 levels in seawater, particularly some seagrasses (reviewed in 

Doney et al., 2009). Shifts in photosynthesis rates could lead to massive changes in 

the dominant phytoplankton species forming the base of marine food webs, with effects reverberating throughout pelagic ecosystems. Most animals, however, either do 

not benefit or have exhibited various combinations of impaired shell or skeletal formation (calcification), and reduced rates of growth, reproduction, or survival. Corals, 

particularly those forming aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate) skeletons appear 

particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification, and along with other aragonitic taxa, 

may be the ecological ‘losers’ in the future high CO2 ocean. 

There is considerable variation among organisms in coping with physiological 

stress caused ocean acidification. Adaptations that allow some organisms to have 

very active lifestyles, with a high capacity for gas exchange (respiration) and metabolism (e.g., actively swimming fishes or many mollusks), also preadapt these species 

for some of the stresses of ocean acidification. However, even though they may be 

able to tolerate ocean acidification, they may nevertheless experience reduced performance. In contrast, more sedentary animals may have less extra energy for coping with ocean acidification. Sensitivity also has been shown to vary among life 

stages of species and among habitats. Some deep-sea taxa have been shown to be 

sensitive to even moderately acidic waters (Barry et al., 2004, 2005), and the physiological tolerance of various higher taxa (fishes, crustaceans) to ocean acidification 

decreases greatly with depth (Seibel and Walsh 2003; Pane and Barry 2007). 

3. Future changes in marine ecosystems due to ocean acidification are understood 

poorly 

‘‘Scaling up’’ from the effects of ocean acidification on individuals to entire ecosystems is difficult. Except for a series of experiments on marine plankton communities, most research on ocean acidification has been performed on individual species, thereby limiting our understanding of population and ecosystem-level effects of 

a high-CO2 ocean. 

30 

The function of marine ecosystems depends upon their biodiversity—the wide variety of species in the habitat. Biodiversity forms a biological network that functions 

though the interactions between species and with their environment. Predation, 

competition, and other interactions among species, as well as the effects of environmental variation on species, determine how and how much energy flows from primary producers at the base of food chains to top predators. 

Biological networks with greater diversity (i.e., more species) are thought to be 

more stable, more resistant to disturbances, and allow more efficient energy flow to 

top predators. In part, this is related to overlapping ecological roles among species— 

the ability of multiple species to perform the same or similar functions in food webs. 

For example, if one species of prey goes extinct, a predator will be able to find another to take its place. Although we still don’t know how ocean acidification will affect ecosystems, it is expected that ecosystem function will degrade if biodiversity 

is lost, and may reach an ecological tipping point if key species are reduced or removed. Studies of large marine ecosystems housing marine fisheries indicate that 

lower biodiversity is associated with low catch rates, greater variability, and higher 

chances of fisheries collapse (Worm et al., 2006). And though the specific effects of 

ocean acidification on marine fisheries in the future remains uncertain, loss of biodiversity caused by ocean acidification and other environmental perturbations can 

affect ecosystem function, potentially leading to ecological ‘tipping points.’ 

4. Ocean resources and services important to society depend upon the healthy ecosystems 

Humanity depends on the function of ocean ecosystems for a range of resources 

and services, from processes as fundamental as oxygen production by marine 

phytoplankton, to shoreline protection, fisheries and aquaculture harvests, and recreational or spiritual experiences. It is my personal opinion that although predicting 

changes in ecosystem function due to ocean acidification is difficult, key elements 

of some ecosystems appear to be at high risk due to the expected reduction in calcification (and perhaps other related physiological processes) with increasing ocean 

acidity. Tropical coral reefs, deep-sea coral reefs, and mollusk-dominated food webs 

in high latitude regions may experience reductions in calcification that lead to important ecosystem changes. Consequently, societies depending on tropical reef systems may experience significant ecological and economic disruption. On the other 

hand, the potential increase in photosynthetic rates by phytoplankton could increase 

the energy available within some ecosystems, potentially leading to increased production at higher trophic levels as long as food webs function efficiently. Finally, although there will be losers and winners throughout ecosystems, I expect society, 

along with most ecosystems, will be on the losing side of this ‘‘game.’’ Throughout 

Earth history, periods of rapid environmental change have often (but not always) 

led to a contraction in biodiversity that disrupted the function of ecosystems. 

References 

Caldeira, K., Wickett, M.E. 2005. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 110:C09S4 

Kleypas, J.A. et al., 1999. Science 284:118–120. 

Raven, J. et al., 2005. Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon 

dioxide. The Royal Society. 

Fabry, V.J. et al., 2008. ECES. J. Mar. Sci., 65: 414–32. 

Kleypas, J.A. et al., 2006. Report of a workshop sponsored by NSF, NOAA, and 

the USGS, St. Petersburg, FL. 

Doney, S.C. et al., 2009. Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci. 1: 169–192. 

Sabine, C.L. and Tanhua, T. 2010. Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci. 2:175–198. 

Barry, J.P. et al., 2004. J. Ocean., 60: 759–66. 

Barry, J.P. et al., 2005, J.Geo. Res. Oc., 110, C09S12. 

Seibel, B. and Walsh, P. 2003, J. Exp. Biol., 206: 641–650. 

Pane, E.F. and Barry, J.P. 2007, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 334: 1–9. 

Worm et al., 2006, Science 314: 787–790. 

Key Findings from the NRC Committee Report on Ocean Acidification: A National 

Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean 

The ocean has absorbed a significant portion of all human-made carbon dioxide 

emissions, benefiting society by moderating the rate of climate change, but also 

causing unprecedented changes to ocean chemistry. Carbon dioxide taken up by the 

ocean decreases the pH of the water and leads to a suite of chemical changes collectively known as ocean acidification. The long term consequences of ocean acidification are not known, but are expected to result in changes in many ecosystems and 

the services they provide to society. This report, requested by Congress, reviews the 

current state of knowledge and identifies gaps in understanding, with the following 

key findings. 

31 

1. Ocean chemistry is changing at an unprecedented rate and magnitude due to 

human-made carbon dioxide emissions. The average pH of ocean surface waters 

has decreased by about 0.1 pH unit—from about 8.2 to 8.1—since the beginning 

of the industrial revolution, and model projections show an additional 0.2–0.3 

drop by the end of the century, even under optimistic scenarios of carbon dioxide 

emissions. 

2. Changes in seawater chemistry are expected to affect marine organisms that use 

carbonate to build shells or skeletons. For example, decreased concentrations of 

calcium carbonate make it difficult for organisms such as coral reef-building organisms and commercially important mollusks like oysters and mussels to grow or 

to repair damage. If the ocean continues to acidify, the water could become corrosive to calcium carbonate structures, dissolving coral reefs and even the shells of 

marine organisms. 

3. It is currently not known how various marine organisms will acclimate or adapt 

to the chemical changes resulting from acidification. Based on current knowledge, 

it appears likely that there will be ecological winners and losers, leading to shifts 

in the composition of many marine ecosystems. 

4. The Committee finds that the Federal Government has taken positive initial 

steps by developing a national ocean acidification program. The recommendations 

in this report provide scientific advice to help guide the program. 

5. More information is needed to fully understand and address the threat that 

ocean acidification may pose to marine ecosystems and the services they provide. 

Research is needed to assist Federal and state agencies in evaluating the potential impacts of ocean acidification, particularly to: 

• understand processes affecting acidification in coastal waters; 

• understand the physiological mechanisms of biological responses; 

• assess the potential for acclimation and adaptation; 

• investigate the response of individuals, populations, and communities; understand ecosystem-level consequences; 

• investigate the interactive effects of multiple stressors; 

• understand the implications for biogeochemical cycles; and 

• understand the socioeconomic impacts and informing decisions. 

6. The national ocean acidification will need to adapt in response to new research 

findings. Because ocean acidification is a relatively new area of research, the Program will need to adapt in response to findings, such as the identification of important biological metrics, analyses of the socioeconomic impact of ocean acidification, and inclusion of concerns from stakeholder communities. 

7. A global network of chemical and biological observations is needed to monitor 

changes in ocean conditions attributable to acidification. Existing observation systems were not designed to monitor ocean acidification, and thus do not provide 

adequate coverage or measurements of carbon parameters, such as total alkalinity, pH, and dissolved inorganic carbon, or biological constituents such as nutrients, oxygen, and chlorophyll. Adding sites in vulnerable ecosystems, such as coral 

reefs or polar regions, and areas of high variability, such as coastal regions, would 

improve the observation system. 

8. International collaboration will critical to the success of the program. Ocean 

acidification is a global problem that requires a multinational research approach. 

Such collaborations also afford opportunities to share resources, including expensive large-scale facilities for ecosystem-level manipulation, and expertise that may 

be beyond the capacity of a single nation. 

9. The national ocean acidification program should support the development of 

standards for measurements and data collection and archiving to ensure that data 

is accessible and useful to researchers now and in the future. Steps should be 

taken to make information available to policymakers and the general public in a 

timely manner. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Dr. Barry. And we’ll look forward 

to asking you some questions about the recommendations from that 

report, and anxious to see those findings. 

Dr. Everett, welcome, thank you for being here. We look forward 

to your testimony. 

32 

STATEMENT OF DR. JOHN T. EVERETT 

Dr. EVERETT. Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the 

Committee. 

Thirty years ago, I worked for the Committee, handling oceans 

and fisheries issues. I’ve sat behind you, and I’ve sat behind here 

for my other bosses, and this is the first time sitting at the table. 

What I am going to present is swimming against the tide of what 

we’re hearing; and so, I just want to make sure everyone knows, 

I’m not on anybody’s payroll, other than my own. I have accepted 

no money from any groups that in any way influence my views on 

climate change. 

My approach to the impact analysis is a product of my education 

and work at NOAA and for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I led IPCC work on five impact analyses: fisheries, 

polar regions, oceans, and oceans and coastal zones, which was two 

reports. Since leaving NOAA, I have been an IPCC expert reviewer, 

and have maintained climate and other subjects in the U.N. Atlas 

of the Oceans, where I am the Chief Editor and Project Manager. 

I am also President of Ocean Associates, Inc., an oceans and fisheries consulting business, with 70 people in six states. I also have 

a website called ClimateChangeFacts.info, where I try to keep track 

of and share all the latest information about climate change. 

I have focused on seven concerns in my statement, including that 

marine life might lose the ability to make shells, and that existing 

shells will become weaker, and that the loss of shell-forming plants 

and animals will reduce food for those higher in the food chain; and 

there are about four others. These concerns are based on the work 

of respected scientists who believe increased CO2 will dangerously 

increase acidification. They use IPCC scenarios developed in the 

early 1990s. 

Other respected scientists believe that the scenarios have been 

overtaken by events; for example, the cost of fuels is rising, and the 

science shows the Earth’s ability to absorb CO2 has not diminished. 

And in my testimony, it also shows that the increase is a straight 

line, and may, in fact, be leveling off; still increasing, though. 

Importantly, oceans are alkaline, not acidic. If all the CO2 in the 

air were put into the ocean, the oceans would still be alkaline. We 

need to reassure bathers and scuba divers that when they put their 

feet in the water, they’re not going to dissolve. 

So, Madam Chair, a puddle of rainwater or a handful of snow is 

100 times more acidic than the oceans will ever be. 

I have reviewed the IPCC and more recent scientific literature, 

and believe that there is not a problem with increased acidification, 

even up to the unlikely levels in the most-used IPCC scenarios. 

This assessment is due to four primary factors. 

First, laboratory work shows there is no basis to predict the demise of shell plants and animals living in the sea. The animals 

above them in the food chain will still find food. There are two 

noteworthy papers. In the first, Woods Hole Oceanographic researchers found that crabs, shrimp, and lobsters build more shell 

when exposed to acidification, and that hard clams and corals 

slowed formation of shells very—at very high CO2 levels, while soft 

clams and oysters responded and—slowed at lower levels. 

33 

Second, the Iglesias-Rodriguez paper found that calcification and 

production in an important shell planktonic plant are significantly 

increased by high CO2. Thus, the science actually indicates plants, 

crustaceans, and shelled algae plankton will be more successful. 

Since they are at, or near, the bottom of the food chain, this is good 

news. 

Second, the Earth has been this route before. Whether or not laboratory studies provide the answers we think are reasonable, we 

need to look more broadly. Russian academicians—these are members of their Academy of Sciences that I worked with on IPCC— 

taught me to look at how the Earth responded in past eras when 

conditions were like those projected. They gravely distrusted computer models. 

So, what can we learn from the past and what we see around us? 

The oceans have been far warmer and far colder and more acidic 

than as projected. During the millennia, that marine lift endured 

and responded to CO2 that was many higher—many times higher 

than present. And it responded to temperatures that put tropical 

plants at the Poles or covered our land by a thick ice that was a 

mile thick. The memory of these events is built into the genes of 

all species, as Dr. Barry was talking about. Virtually all ecological 

niches have been filled at all times. If someone could demonstrate 

that there were no corals, clams, oysters, or shell plankton when 

there was double or triple the amount of CO2, I would be concerned. The opposite is true. 

Third, observational data show no harm. IPCC concluded, prior 

to the Iglesias-Rodriguez paper, that there is no observational evidence of oceanic changes due to acidification. There is also nothing 

conclusive in the recent research to indicate any reason for concern. 

Last, natural changes are greater and faster than those projected. Major warming, cooling, and pH changes in the oceans are 

a fact of life, whether over a few years, as in an el Nin ̃ o, over decades, as in the Pacific oscillation, or over a few hours, as a burst 

of upwelling appears or a storm bring acidic rainwater to an estuary and perhaps kills oysters and clams. 

Despite severe and rapid changes that far exceed those in the 

scenarios, the biology adapts rapidly. The 0.1 change in ocean alkalinity since 1750 and the 1-degree Fahrenheit rise since 1860 are 

but noise in the rapidly changing system. 

In the face of all these natural changes, whether over days or 

millennia, some species flourish while others diminish. With no 

laboratory or observational evidence of biological disruption, I see 

no economic disruption of the commercial and recreational fisheries, nor harm to marine mammals, sea turtles, or any other protected species. 

Whichever response the U.S. takes, our actions should be prudent. Our research should focus on understanding those ecosystem 

linkages needed to wisely manage our fisheries and conserve our 

protected species. This includes research to explore further, the 

possible acidification effects, as wisely envisioned with the funds 

recently made available to NOAA. 

I would be pleased to answer questions. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Everett follows:] 

34 

1http://www.ClimateChangeFacts.Info 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. JOHN T. EVERETT

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. I am John Everett. I am not here to represent any particular 

organization, company, nor special-interest group. I have never received any funding 

to support my climate change work other than my NOAA salary, from which I retired after a 31-year career in various positions. I was a Member of the Board of 

Directors of the NOAA Climate Change Program from its inception until I left 

NOAA. I led several impact analyses for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

Change from 1988 to 2000, while an employee of NOAA. The reports were reviewed 

by hundreds of government and academic scientists as part of the IPCC process. My 

work included five impact analyses: Fisheries (Convening Lead Author), Polar Regions (Co-Chair), Oceans (Lead Author), and Oceans and Coastal Zones (Co-Chair/ 

2 reports). Since leaving NOAA I have kept abreast of the literature, have continued 

as an IPCC Expert Reviewer, have talked to many individuals and groups and have 

maintained these subjects in the U.N. Atlas of the Oceans, where I am the Chief 

Editor and Project Manager. I own a fisheries and oceans consulting business called 

Ocean Associates, Inc. and a website ClimateChangeFacts.Info 1 that I try to keep 

unbiased in its treatment of conflicting science. This site is the number 1 Googleranked site of many million for certain search terms. My approach to impact analysis is a product of my education and work experiences at NOAA and the work I 

led for IPCC. This statement provides my analysis of the effects of ocean acidification on our living resources and our economy. 

All opinions are mine alone. 

Background 

I was assigned the climate change duties when I was the NOAA National Marine 

Fisheries Service Division Chief for Fisheries Development in the 1970s. The agency 

was very concerned about the impact of climate change on the United States fisheries and fishing industry. Global cooling would be devastating to our fisheries and 

aquaculture. About 1987, the momentum shifted to fears of global warming and 

with my background, and as Director of Policy and Planning for NOAA Fisheries, 

I was tasked to lead our efforts dealing with it. In 1996 I received the NOAA Administrator’s Award for ‘‘accomplishments in assessing the impacts of climate 

change on global oceans and fisheries.’’ In 2008, I received recognition from the 

IPCC for having ‘‘contributed to the work of the IPCC over the years since inception 

of the organization,’’ leading to its Nobel Peace Prize. 

I. The Concerns 

There are several concerns about CO2 entering the oceans and causing its pH to 

become lower. Their discussion in the press and among policy officials is at the foundation of this hearing. These concerns are: 

1. Animals with calcium carbonate shells will lose the ability to make shells 

2. Existing shells will become weaker 

3. Loss of shell-forming animals will reduce food for those higher in the food 

chain 

4. Many species will be gone in 30 years 

5. Oysters and clams are dying 

6. Jellyfish are increasing 

7. Seagrasses will be injured 

The concerns are based on the work of respected scientists who have shared the 

above beliefs or authored papers that argue the above points. They believe increased 

atmospheric CO2 will increase the acidification of the oceans. The basis is largely 

a set of emission scenarios developed by IPCC in the early 1990s in an attempt to 

reign in the mass confusion about the future trajectory of CO2 emissions. With this 

standard set of scenarios, climate modelers could then have a standard set of inputs 

in terms of what was broadly considered a primary determinant of climate—the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere. This proportion is based on new contributions 

after deducting removals by the Earth system and assumes a decreasing removal 

ability as CO2 increases. For the first time, modelers around the world could compare results while impact assessment scientists and policymakers could look at 

points on which most models agreed. Standardization of scenarios allowed modelers 

to identify errors or alternative ways to predict or handle parameters, such as cloud 

cover. One of the scenarios became heavily used and is identified as IS92—Business 

35 

as Usual. Nearly 20 years ago, it was a reasonable approach and pretty much in 

the middle range of alternative scenarios. It underpins much of the research findings I will present today. 

There are other respected scientists who believe that the Business as Usual scenario has been overtaken by events. The cost of fossil fuels is rising, reflecting increasing scarcity and contributing to a slower CO2 growth in the atmosphere and 

a lack of acceleration. New science shows the Earth’s ability to absorb the same proportion of new CO2 each year has not been diminished, removing a key underlying 

assumption. Importantly, oceans are alkaline—not acidic (much more so than rainwater), so use of the term ‘‘acidification’’ promotes fear. If all the CO2 in the air 

were put into the ocean, the oceans would still be alkaline. With all this talk of 

acidification, we need to reassure bathers that their feet will not dissolve when they 

step into the ocean. Ocean water at the surface generally has a pH over 8 and neutral is 7.0 (pure water) while a puddle of rain water is far more acidic after having 

picked up CO2 in its fall. Technically, we should say the oceans could become less 

alkaline, a term not so endearing to those trying to get attention. 

II. The Physics 

At the bottom of our inverted pyramid of climate science are a few good scientists 

working to improve our knowledge of how the Earth system operates, and then to 

project future possibilities. The physics are daunting. Similarly, the modelers must 

get observational input data from the physical world and from prognosticators about 

how many people will be born in future years and how they will get and use their 

energy. The number of scientists doing this work is small compared to the number 

who will use their information to analyze impacts and make policy recommendations to governments and industry. 

As a research manager much of my life, I have a healthy skepticism of things that 

underpin important decisions. Whether it is a column of numbers that will tie up 

a fishing fleet because of an addition error or a wiring harness on a manned lunar 

rocket that doesn’t quite fit, I have learned to pause and check it out. There are 

some things at the bottom of the CO2 pyramid that make it seem wobbly and in 

need of a check. 

Physics tells us that increasing atmospheric CO2 lowers oceanic pH and carbonate 

ion concentrations, thereby decreasing calcium carbonate. Surface ocean pH (a logarithmic measure of hydrogen ions) today is believed to be 0.1 unit lower than preindustrial values. The median value of ocean model runs projects that pH will decrease by another 0.3 to 0.4 units by 2100. This translates into a 100 to 150 percent 

increase in the concentration of H+ ions while carbonate ion concentrations will decrease. When water is undersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate, marine organisms can no longer form calcium carbonate shells. The model simulations project 

that undersaturation will be reached in a few decades.1 The conventional wisdom 

also says that as CO2 concentration becomes higher, saturation will mean that more 

of it will remain in the atmosphere each year, accelerating its accumulation. 

However there are some major problems with the science. The wisdom at the time 

of the IPCC 2007 report was that half of CO2 emissions would remain in the atmosphere and that we would have 712 ppm (IS92a) by 2100.2 This would require the 

atmosphere to more than double the present rate of growth of CO2 to 3.05 ppm, yet 

the growth rate seems to be leveling off. The meaning of this information (and the 

future of all climate models based on it) became VERY cloudy on 31 December 2009 

with the ScienceDaily acknowledgment of a paper published by American Geophysical Union and authored by Wolfgang Knorr that shows ‘‘No Rise of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Fraction in Past 160 Years,’’ despite the predictions of carbon 

cycle/climate models.3 The implications of this have yet to be assimilated by the 

modeling community. This does not mean that CO2 proportion is not rising but rather that the proportion not being assimilated has not changed since 1850. Importantly, it means that the rate of CO2 cycling increases as it becomes more concentrated, and does not decrease as assumed in climate models. The rate of projected growth in CO2 appears to be greatly exaggerated. 

The CO2 scenarios are literally falling flat and need revision. The observational 

trend line shows monotonic growth—pretty much a straight line as in the chart 

below of global marine CO2 measurements (NOAA data),4 while the IPCC scenarios 

used in most research rely on an accelerating growth. Certainly the predicted rapid 

acceleration of the IS92a model (see solid black line in middle of figure) is missing 

from the NOAA data plotted below. In fact, if we wonder if the last 8 or 12 years 

are representative of the future, we might imagine a downward slope in the growth 

rate. This could be real as rising prices cut usage and lead to economic distress. It 

could also mean that the ocean is absorbing more CO2, which might not bode well 

in light of concerns over acidification. However, it may be that the ocean is conVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
36 

verting and storing the CO2 as calcium carbonate in the form of shells of oyster, 

clams and planktonic organisms. It is a complicated environment and there is much 

we do not know. 

Using the average rate of increase for the past 10 years (1.87/year), and assuming 

a straight-line growth, my projection for 2100 is 560 ppm. I have great reservations 

about our ability to find the necessary amount of fuel even this would require, never 

mind enough to reach 712 ppm (IS92a) or higher. 

Thus, if the projections we are concerned with today are based on the IPCC IS92a 

model, or one of its cohorts, and the concept of CO2 sink saturation, we should give 

the information on its impacts a second look. 

Further, if a model can’t replicate the past by relying on principles of physics and 

mathematics, without ‘‘tuning’’ its parameters to reflect past variations, we must 

not trust that it properly represents the real world. Some important physics may 

be missing or misrepresented. This is particularly true of any model that failed to 


422EVER1.eps 422EVER2.eps
37 

predict the present leveling of temperatures in the face of rising CO2. I know of 

none that got it right. 

Something is very wrong at the bottom of our inverted pyramid! 

III. The Biology 

The Concerns 

Much of the concern flows form the latest IPCC report. The text from the Summary for Policy Makers states: ‘‘The uptake of anthropogenic carbon since 1750 has 

led to the ocean becoming more acidic with an average decrease in pH of 0.1 units. 

Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations lead to further acidification. Projections 

based on SRES scenarios give a reduction in average global surface ocean pH of between 0.14 and 0.35 units over the 21st century. While the effects of observed ocean 

acidification on the marine biosphere are as yet undocumented, the progressive 

acidification of oceans is expected to have negative impacts on marine shell-forming 

organisms (e.g., corals) and their dependent species’’ 5

1. Animals with calcium carbonate shells will lose the ability to make shells. 

These animals include corals, coralline algae (e.g., encrusting algae), and foraminifera, pteropods (swimming planktonic snails with aragonite shells), and mollusks (e,g,. clams and oysters). 

2. Existing shells will become weaker and even dissolve. Dissolution of shells 

after death is the norm. Calcium carbonate flows back into the water wherever 

it is not saturated. In the deep ocean, this can happen rapidly to exposed shells. 

3. Loss of shell-forming animals will reduce food for those higher in the food 

chain. Dissolved calcium and carbonate ions are used by ocean animals to 

produce their shells and skeleton. A lower pH can slow shell production by disrupting the supply of carbonate ions, thus slowing shell production and increasing the susceptibility to dissolution, early death and predation. 

4. Many species will be gone in 30 years. This is founded in a belief in the IS92a 

emission scenarios and some research results. 

5. Oysters and clams are dying. In the Pacific Northwest there are charges that 

an acidic ocean is to blame for extensive mortalities of young oysters and clams. 

Fears include the possibility that acidic upwelling waters will get even more so 

when exposed to high CO2 air. 

6. Jellyfish are increasing. Some have postulated that ocean acidification could 

open ecological space for noncalcifying species. 

7. Seagrasses will be injured. Acid waters will disrupt life processes and slow 

growth. 

Biological Considerations 

There is limited research. I have reviewed the major papers and the critiques 

about the papers. Below are a few that I think merit bringing before the Committee. 

It is only a few that show no obvious bias. For example, it is quite common among 

researchers vying for scarce funding dollars to hype their findings or the importance 

of the problem. Whether it is the use of hydrochloric (HCl) acid to mimic CO2 but 

which introduces other issues such as shell decay, or presenting the findings of 

grave consequences at high acidity while not mentioning the lack of change at lower 

levels, or not investigating whether low pH was due to degraded water quality from 

runoff and sewage, the real cause of reduced growth or mortality. In some cases a 

lower base year is chosen that exaggerates the percentage change, such as ‘‘pH levels will drop 30 percent from pre-industrial levels—when current levels are far less 

disputed, but the percent change is less.’’ 

Each study must be scoured for hints of inappropriate procedures and unfounded 

statements. None can be accepted at face value. The peer review process has warts. 

A good example is the dispute over whether acidification is good or bad for shellforming plankton, a vital part of the ocean’s biology and the ability to sequester vast 

amounts of CO2. The first paper says more CO2 is good, the second bad, and then 

the first successfully refutes the criticism and gets the last word, sustaining the 

positive assessment in great detail. All published in Science. 

‘‘Ocean acidification in response to rising atmospheric CO2 partial pressures is 

widely expected to reduce calcification by marine organisms. From the mid-Mesozoic, coccolithophores have been major calcium carbonate producers in the 

world’s oceans, today accounting for about a third of the total marine CaCO3

production. Here, we present laboratory evidence that calcification and net primary production in the coccolithophore species Emiliania huxleyi are significantly increased by high CO2 partial pressures. Field evidence from the deep 

38 

ocean is consistent with these laboratory conclusions, indicating that over the 

past 220 years there has been a 40 percent increase in average coccolith mass. 

Our findings show that coccolithophores are already responding and will probably continue to respond to rising atmospheric CO2 partial pressures, which has 

important implications for biogeochemical modeling of future oceans and climate. 6 ‘‘However, Riebesell et al., vigorously attacked the paper, claiming that 

‘‘shortcomings in their experimental protocol compromise the interpretation of 

their data and the resulting conclusions.’’ 7 In rebuttal, also in Science, IglesiasRodriguez et al., successfully demonstrate that the logic and methods of 

Riebesall et al., are the ones that are flawed and the original findings of increased calcification are valid.8

Perhaps the most thorough review of the literature on acidification impacts is by 

Fabry et al.,9 They found that little research was done on CO2 concentrations that 

were relevant to answer today’s questions. They express much concern that acidification will retard development of shells. They as do several other authors, note that 

studies have not been long-term enough to discover adaptations over multiple generations. I believe this is key because these genera have genetic information about 

past events and this may well take several generations for stabilization. In any scenario, there will be ample time for this to happen. In a laboratory it happens with 

the throw of a switch. If my family or its descendants needs to hold its head underwater for 5 minutes and they have a couple generations to adapt, it can be done. 

However, I can’t do it very well today. 

With respect to corals, Atkinson reviewed recent literature on . . . ‘‘how ocean 

acidification may influence coral reef organisms and coral reef communities. We 

argue that it is unclear as to how, and to what extent, ocean acidification will influence calcium carbonate calcification and dissolution, and affect changes in community structure of present-day coral reefs.’’ 10 Also, the latest IPCC report (summary 

above) found no empirical evidence supporting effects of acidification on marine biological systems.11

Kurihara et al., investigated the ‘‘effects of seawater equilibrated with CO2-enriched air (2000 ppm, pH 7.4) on the early development of the mussel’’ and found 

that the mussels, as clams studied by them earlier, were significantly impaired 

when exposed to CO2 over 5X! that of today.12

Marubini et al., found that seawater acidification may lead to a decrease of tropical coral growth calcification. This effect is either mediated by a decrease in carbonate, in pH, or by an alteration of the internal buffering system leading to a disruption of carbon supply to calcification rather than by a direct effect of CO2 or a 

change of HCO3-concentration. Results showed that the negative effect of acidification may be counteracted by increasing the bicarbonate concentration of seawater, 

resulting in an increase in the carbonate concentration.13

Research in laboratories shows that shell growth is slowed in some animals and 

enhanced in others. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers 

found that 7 of 18 species of animals ‘‘such as crabs, shrimp and lobsters—unexpectedly build more shell when exposed to ocean acidification caused by elevated levels 

of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)’’S.14 They tested as high as 7 times present levels. They found that hard clams and corals slowed formation of shells but only above 

1,000 ppm, while soft clams and oyster slowed formation at lower levels. Note that 

the shells did not dissolve, but only grew somewhat slower at 7X present CO2 concentrations. 

There is no basis to predict the demise of shelled animals living in the sea or the 

animals above them in the food chain at any likely level of CO2 that might be put 

in the air by humans. 

A study at the University of Hawaii found the olfactory-based homing ability of 

clownfish was disrupted at 1,000 ppm and non-existent at 2,000 ppm. The values 

of CO2 acidification were high: ‘‘These values are consistent with climate change 

models that predict atmospheric CO2 levels could exceed 1,000 ppm by 2100 and approach 2,000 ppm by the end of next century under a business as usual scenario.’’ 15

This has implication for all fish that need to find their way back to natal streams, 

if we were ever to get to 1,000 ppm. 

With respect to clam and oyster mortalities being caused by acidified water, it is 

unlikely that CO2 deposition from the air is the culprit. Upwelling brings water 

from the depths to the surface. This water has been out of sunlight perhaps for centuries. There has been no photosynthesis for plants to turn the CO2 into oxygen, 

and whatever oxygen there was, has been converted into CO2 by animals. When this 

cold water reaches the surface, it is saturated with CO2 and is acidic, plus it has 

little oxygen. This warming water will be outgassing CO2, rather than picking it up 

as claimed by some. Acidic water is also symptomatic of coastal eutrophication, 

39 

whether caused by runoff or sewage. The WHOI work cited above shows that the 

growth of clams and oysters can be slowed by CO2-induced acidification. In their 

studies, the animals did not die even at rates several multiples of today’s CO2 levels 

and for clams, growth slowed only at the highest levels of CO2. 

Example of shell formation at 7X current CO2. Source: WHOI 2009 


422EVER3.eps
40 

With respect to being overrun with jellyfish, because ocean acidification could open 

ecological space for noncalcifying species. Richardson and Gibson studied the possibility that there were more noncalcifying jellyfish when conditions were more acidic 

(lower pH) in the Northeast Atlantic using coelenterate records from the Continuous 

Plankton Recorder and pH data from the International Council for the Exploration 

of the Sea for the period 1946–2003. They could find no significant relationships between jellyfish abundance and acidic conditions in any of the regions investigated.16

With respect to sea grasses, Zimmerman studied sea-grasses that form the bases 

of highly productive ecosystems ranging from tropical to polar seas. Despite clear 

evidence for carbon limitation of photosynthesis, seagrasses thrive in high light environments, and show little evidence of light-induced photoinhibition. Increasing the 

availability of dissolved aqueous CO2 can increase instantaneous rates of light saturated photosynthesis by up to 4-fold. Prolonged exposure to elevated CO2 concentrations increases the concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates (sucrose and 

starch), rates of vegetative shoot proliferation, and flowering, and reduces light requirements for plant survival. Consequently, seagrass populations are likely to respond positively to CO2 -induced acidification of the coastal ocean, which may have 

significant implications for carbon dynamics in shallow water habitats and for the 

restoration/preservation of seagrass populations.17

IV. Has this Happened Before? 

From 50–600 million years ago, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were usually 2–20 

times higher than at present. All the animals of concern evolved during this period. 

This included the age of the dinosaurs, when life was so prolific on land and in the 

oceans that we are still using the carbon (and chalk) deposited during those periods. 

The animals of concern all should have the innate genetic plasticity to quickly respond to the relatively modest changes of even the unlikely worst-case scenarios, 

none of which move our atmosphere’s present concentration of CO2 into the earlier 

range. The CO2 we are putting into the atmosphere, originally came from it during 


422EVER4.eps
41 

the epochs when the species of concern flourished. The chart below compiles the 

work of several authors and methods. It is from the latest IPCC report, showing 

time in Ma (millions of years) before present. For comparison, the present CO2 level 

is 388 ppm. 

V. Is this Bad or Good or Just Different? 

We and all other animals use oxygen and expel CO2. Plants do the opposite. CO2, 

combined with light and nutrients is their food. We must not lose sight of the fact 

that plants have consumed once-abundant CO2 to the point that it is 0.000388 of 

the atmosphere. Many greenhouse operators pump CO2 into their buildings to enhance growth, indicating plants evolved during higher concentrations of CO2. Plants 

in the ocean also rely on CO2. There is a high ability to move the excess out of circulation, turning it into oxygen (by plants) or calcium carbonate (by animals-mostly). A view of the CO2 growth chart and analyses such as that of Wolfgang Knorr 


422EVER5.eps
42 

cited above show this has not been adequately taken into account by climate modelers or those who provided their inputs. 

We know that the Earth has seen these conditions before, and that all the same 

types of animals and plants of the oceans successfully made it through far more extreme conditions. Virtually all the ecological niches were filled at all times. If someone could demonstrate that there were no corals, clams, oysters, or shelled plankton 

when the Earth had double or triple the amount of CO2 in the air, we would have 

reason for concern. Just as IPCC has concluded, there is no observational evidence 

that things would be better or worse, or even different. Similarly, there is nothing 

conclusive in the very recent scientific literature to indicate any reason for concern. 

If anything, the science indicates plants will be more successful, and since they are 

the bottom of the food chain, this cannot be totally bad. 

VI. What Can Be Done about It? 

Oceans are actually alkaline with a surface pH of around 8.1. But it can vary from 

higher levels in shallow areas, where CO2 and hydrogen ions are consumed by 

plants, to relatively acidic areas in eutrophic estuaries. Upwelling areas are also 

less alkaline, as cold bottom waters are brought into sunlight near the surface 

where algae use the deep-water CO2 and nutrients to create a productivity boom 

that sustains fisheries production in several areas of the world. There are no longterm data, using similar instruments that provide a real clue as to global trends 

in alkalinity. There are only a few data sets of over a decade, such as that of the 

Monterrey Bay Aquarium. The variability, because of nearby ocean currents and 

upwelling shows the difficulty in portraying a global average value. 

Some pundits have argued that we could add limestone to the oceans to make 

them more alkaline, but this has little merit due to costs and the fact that the 

oceans already contain immense buffering capability. We should bear in mind that 

this limestone and chalk for the most part came from the shells of plankton as they 

fed on the CO2-laden ancient seas. 

VII. Research Suggestions 

There are some items that would go a long way toward establishing the likely effects of an increased CO2 world. 

1. Develop a CO2/temperature timeline based on extant research on past climates, at least back to about 600 million years before the present. This effort 

would provide a critical review of candidate papers and unpublished work that 

goes well beyond a typical peer-reviewed journal publication, or prior summary 

reports of the IPCC. 

2. The acidification debate has showed us we lack a sufficient understanding 

of some fundamental chemical and biological processes. The research to resolve 

these questions should continue and perhaps centrally coordinated so that 

scarce dollars are targeted at real and important knowledge gaps. 

3. Examine the growth rates, densities, and shell thicknesses of clams, oysters, 

or other mollusks from Indian middens and sediments to determine if any 

changes can be detected and if they correlate to any known changes in the 

oceans or atmosphere, including pH and CO2 levels. 

4. Before the next IPCC assessment begins, assemble a USA review team and 

nominees for the IPCC writing and Chair assignments that make up a crosssection of scientific viewpoints. There are qualified scientists in agencies, industry, and among the citizenry who can contribute. Just as we shouldn’t have too 

many from the energy industry, the same goes for the agencies, universities, 

and NGO’s. We all have biases, even if we think it is the other person who is 

the one with an agenda. We cannot afford to have only people with the same 

agenda, no matter how righteous they might think it to be. 

VIII. Concluding Remarks 

There is no reliable observational evidence of negative trends that can be traced 

definitively to lowered pH of the water. If there were, it would be suspect because 

there is insignificant change relative to past climates of the Earth. Scientific studies, and papers reviewing science papers, have similar messages. Papers that herald 

findings that show negative impacts need to be dismissed if they used acids rather 

than CO2 to reduce alkalinity, if they simulated CO2 values beyond triple those of 

today, while not reporting results at concentrations of half, present, double and triple, or as pointed out in several studies, they did not investigate adaptations over 

many generations. 

The oceans and coastal zones have been far warmer and colder and much more 

acidic than is projected by climate models. Marine life has been in the oceans nearly 

43 

since when they were formed. During the millennia life endured and responded to 

CO2 levels well beyond anything projected, and temperature changes that put tropical plants at the poles or had much of our land covered by ice more than a mile 

thick. The memory of these events is built into the genetic plasticity of the species 

on this planet. IPCC forecasts are for changes to occur faster than evolution is considered to occur, so impacts will be determined by this plasticity from past experiences and the resiliency of affected organisms to find suitable habitats. 

In the oceans, major climate warming and cooling and pH changes are a fact of 

life, whether it is over a few years as in an El Nin ̃ o, over decades as in the Pacific 

Decadal Oscillation or the North Atlantic Oscillation, or in a few hours as a burst 

of upwelling moves into an area or a storm brings rainwater into an estuary. 

Upwelling and rainwater each have pH values that are dozens or orders of magnitude lower than in any scenario. 

Currents, temperatures, salinity, pH, and biology change rapidly to the new state 

in months or a couple years. These changes far exceed the changes expected with 

human-induced climate change and occur much faster. The estimated 0.1 change in 

alkalinity since 1750 and the one degree F. temperature rise since 1860 are but 

noise in this rapidly changing system. Sea level has been inexorably rising since the 

last glaciation lost its grip a mere 10,000 years ago. It is only some few thousand 

years since trees grew on Georges Bank and oysters flourished on its shores. Their 

remains still come up in dredges and trawls in now deep water, with the oysters 

looking like they were shucked yesterday. In the face of all these natural changes, 

and those we are here to consider, some species flourish while others diminish. 

I do not know whether the Earth is going to continue to warm, or that having 

reached a peak several years ago, we are at the start of a cooling cycle that will 

last several decades or more. I think carbon-based fuels will continue to increase 

in price and become scarcer as reserves are depleted even though I am an optimist 

about our technological advances in helping us find and exploit additional reserves. 

Nevertheless, our consumption is more likely to fall than to rise. In any case, I am 

optimistic about our ability to deal with the consequences. 

The most important approach in determining the impact of CO2 on the oceans is 

to examine what happened during past times. The world has been down this path 

before and all the existing genera, and many species, endured. It has often been a 

difficult journey, with volcanism, meteoroid collisions, severe ice ages, and great 

heat, with many of these events causing mass extinctions. The ancestors of these 

animals were on Earth long before humans. They are the survivors of great disasters. The memory of these difficult times is in their genetic makeup. Adaptation will 

be swift, if needed. 

Whichever response the U.S. takes, our actions should be prudent. Our fishing industry, maritime industry and other users of the ocean environment compete in a 

world market and are vulnerable in many ways to possible governmental actions to 

reduce CO2 emissions. We already import most of our seafood and many of the nations with which we compete do not need further advantages. Our research should 

focus on those ecosystem linkages we need to understand in order to wisely manage 

our fisheries, and conserve our protected species. 

I think it is important to do the necessary research to see whether my views or 

those who see impending doom are correct. The research is important, but actions 

that would decrease our Nation’s ability to afford the research should not be taken 

on the basis of what I believe is unfounded fear. 

References 1 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007: Working Group I: The 

Physical Science Basis. 10.4.2 Ocean Acidification Due to Increasing Atmospheric 

Carbon Dioxide. Available: http://www.ipcc.ch/publicationslandldata/ar4/wg1/ 

en/ch10s10-4-2.html. 2 IPCC Working Group I: The Scientific Basis, 3.7.3.2 Concentration projections 

based on IS92a, for comparison with previous studies available: http://www. 

ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/122.htm. 3Knorr, Wolf. ‘‘No Rise of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Fraction in Past 160 

Years’’ Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, L21710, 5 PP., 2009. Available: 

http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2009GL040613.shtml. 4 NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ERL). Recent Global CO2. Available: 

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/#global. 5 IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Summary for Policymakers. Geneva. 6 Iglesias-Rodriguez, M. D., Halloran, P. R., Rickaby, R. E. M., Hall, I. R., 

Colmenero-Hidalgo, E., Gittins, J. R., Green, D. R. H., Tyrrell, T., Gibbs, S. J., von 

44 

Dassow, P., Rehm, E., Armbrust, E. V. Boessenkool, K. P. 2008. Phytoplankton calcification in a high-CO2 world. Science 320:336–340. Available: 7 Riebesell, U., Richard G. J. Bellerby, Anja Engel, Victoria J. Fabry, David A. 

Hutchins, Thorsten B. H. Reusch, Kai G. Schulz, and Frangois M. M. Morel Comment on ‘‘Phytoplankton Calcification in a High-CO2 World’’ December 2008, Science 

322 (5907), 1466b. 8 Iglesias-Rodriguez, M. D., Erik T. Buitenhuis, John A. Raven, Oscar Schofield, 

Alex J. Poulton, Samantha Gibbs, Paul R. Halloran, and Hein J. W. de Baar Response to Comment on ‘‘Phytoplankton Calcification in a High-CO2 World,’’ December 2008, Science 322 (5907), 1466c. Available: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;322/5907/1466c. 9Fabry, V. J., Brad A. Seibel , Richard A. Feely, and James C. Orr. Impacts of 

ocean acidification on marine fauna and ecosystem processes ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access published on April 1, 2008, Available: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/65/3/414. 10 Atkinson M. J., Cuet, P. (2008) Possible effects of ocean acidification on coral 

reef biogeochemistry: topics for research. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 373:249–256. 11 Rosenzweig, C., and Others. 2007. Assessment of observed changes and responses in natural and managed systems, p. 79–131. In M. L. Parry, O. F. Canziani, 

J. P. Palutikof, P. J. van der Linden and C. E. Hanson [eds.], Climate change 2007: 

Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the 

Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

Cambridge Univ. Press. 12Kurihara, H., Asai, T., Kato, S. and Ishimatsu, A. (2008) Effects of elevated 

pCO2 on early development in the musselMytilus galloprovincialis. Aquat. Biol. 

4:225–233. 13Marubini, F., C. Ferrier-Pages, P. Furla, and D. Allemand, ‘‘Coral calcification 

responds to seawater acidification: a working hypothesis toward a physiological 

mechanism,’’ Coral Reefs, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 491–499, 2008. 14WHOI. 2009. In CO2-rich Environment, Some Ocean Dwellers Increase Shell 

Production. Available: http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7545&tid=282&cid=638 

09&ct=162. 15Munday, P. L., J. M. Donelson, D. L. Dixson, and G. G. K. Endo, Effects of 

ocean acidification on the early life history of a tropical marine fish Proc R Soc B 

2009 276 (1671) 3275–3283. Available: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/6/18 

48.full. 16 Richardson, A. J. and M. J. Gibbons, ‘‘Are Jellyfish Increasing in Response to 

Ocean Acidification?,’’ Limnology and Oceanography, v. 53, no. 5 (2008):2040–2045. 17Zimmerman, R.C. Seagrass Response to Ocean Acidification: From Individual 

Leaves to Populations, in Ocean Acidification Workshop, Scripps Institution of 

Oceanography, La Jolla, CA. October 9–11, 2007 Department of Ocean, Earth and 

Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Dr. Everett, and thank you for 

your views. And we’re glad that you’ve made it to the witness table, 

so—a long journey, being in the audience and back here. 

My colleague from Alaska has joined us. 

Do you want to make any kind of statement, Mr. Begich, before 

we go to questions? 

Senator BEGICH. Madam Chair, no. We’ll—I’ll be happy to just go 

to questions, when that time is allowed. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Senator. 

I’m going to start off, and let’s just jump right into it, Dr. Barry. 

And Dr. Everett claims that oceans will, you know, never truly become acidic, below a—a, you know, a pH below 7, and therefore, 

the term is somewhat misleading. But, isn’t this really about, not 

the acidification level, but the chemistry of the oceans itself? And, 

as Mr. Waters correctly put it, why would we risk waiting to find 

out, when it’s too late? 

Dr. BARRY. Well, the pH of the ocean, or alkalinity or acidic—it’s 

really just semantics. I think if we went to the newspapers and 

said, ‘‘The oceans are getting less alkaline,’’ that’s a little confusing. But, I think something about acidity is something that we 

45 

can understand. So, when this term first came up, the idea that the 

ocean was acidic—it was understood, by all the chemists: 7.0 is 

considered neutral, and the oceans are about 8.1 in pH. There’s 

really no thought in the scientific literature or community that the 

oceans are ‘‘acidic,’’ by that standard. They’re becoming more acidic, or less alkaline, but it’s really a semantic term. 

Now, what is going to go on in the future is really what’s important. How much change have we seen, and how much will we see 

in the future? And all of the predictions that I have seen, even the 

most conservative models, suggest that we will see quite large 

changes in pH in the ocean in the future. 

Now, think of it this way, in temperature, because acidity’s a little difficult to understand. But, let’s say that the range—because 

Dr. Everett talked about the natural range of variability, and he’s 

correct that there is quite a wide variety—or quite a wide range 

of variability in some habitats in ocean acidity. And I’ll say two 

things about that. 

Number one, what if we took the temperature range that we live 

in—let’s say, 50 degrees to 100 degrees—and we decided, we’re 

going to now move that range by 50 degrees. Now we live between 

100 degrees and 150 degrees. That would be quite stressful for humans, to live under those conditions. 

So, we are basically asking organisms that live in the ocean, if 

all of the best science is correct about where we’re going in the future, we’re going to ask them to live in an ocean that has a range 

in pH that is, in many cases, outside the entire range that they 

have seen throughout much of their recent evolutionary history. 

The second point I guess I’d like to make with this is that Dr. 

Everett is correct, environmental conditions change, and animals 

survive that. But, they—it doesn’t mean that they perform at their 

optimal point throughout that period. So, animals might survive el 

Nin ̃ os, but their performance, their survival, their growth, and 

their reproduction may be impaired during periods of their normal 

range that are stressful. If we shift that entire range over to a period where maybe they can tolerate the lower acidity—I’m sorry, 

the—say, the warmer part of it, but when it gets really hot, they’re 

going to die, we have a real problem. So, when we started shifting 

the entire environmental range, that’s where we get into trouble, 

I think. And that’s the comment I have for that. 

Senator CANTWELL. And what do we do about that change in 

chemistry? I mean, I think your example is a good one. We, in the 

Northwest, always talk about this impact, because we’re a hydro 

system—you know, all of—you know, 70 percent of our electricity 

comes from hydro, which means snowpack matters to us. One degree change in the temperature means millions of dollars difference 

in the cost of electricity—1 degree. And so, what—when you have 

this chemistry change, what does it mean for the uncertainty, and 

what can we do to address that? What are the recommendations? 

Dr. BARRY. Well, in the report, we recommend a program that 

begins with many of the recommendations that came from the 

FOARAM bill and the scientific community, and builds a framework of research that includes a variety of themes, running from 

basic physiology—How do organisms make calcium carbonate 

shells?—because we need to understand some of the basic mechaVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
46 

nisms, as well as trying to understand, from the top down, How 

do—will these changes in the performance of individual organisms 

scale up to what goes through food webs and eventually provides 

ecosystem services? 

And I can go into many more details, if you like. I’m not sure 

I answered this question entirely for you yet. 

Senator CANTWELL. Well, I think the panel has done an excellent 

job. I wanted to ask Ms. Weaver about how she, you know, got involved in this issue, as it related to, you know, to acidification, you 

know, from the perspective of explaining it. But, I think you’ve all 

done a—you know, a fabulous job of talking about where we are 

today, in the graphics of that food chain and what’s at risk, and 

yet doing nothing and saying, ‘‘Well, let’s just see what happens’’— 

it’s just unacceptable. 

Dr. BARRY. I agree with you. 

Senator CANTWELL. It’s just unacceptable. 

So, Ms. Weaver, did you want to comment on your—I mean, were 

you surprised, when you got more involved with this, at the level 

of impacts to our ocean? Was it something you had been—— 

Ms. WEAVER. I think that I—oh, thank you. I should know how 

to do that. 

I think that—you know, I consider myself a fairly well-informed 

citizen, and, you know, someone who participates a lot in the 

water. And the fact that I knew nothing about the scientific data 

came as a—it came as a huge shock to me. And it seemed to me 

that if every American citizen were given—could hear the testimony today, and could see this film we made, and certainly include 

Dr. Everett’s testimony in this, that this is not an area—this is an 

area where we really look to our leadership to be informed and to 

take steps. 

I think that scientists are putting together different parts of the 

puzzle of climate change. We may not have absolutely all the 

pieces. There may be a couple under the sofa. But, we have enough 

of the pieces to be sending out a cry to face this. To see, you know, 

Mr. Waters’ testimony is so moving, and it’s a—it’s very heartwarming to me, since I come from such a different world, to hear 

his testimony, seeing what’s happening to his beloved finned creatures, you know, looking ahead and looking at their future, as a 

fisherperson, rather than as an eater and admirer, like myself. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. WEAVER. And, you know, I just feel that—such power in this 

committee. Even if we disagree on some of the scientific data, we’re 

all sending the same message, which I think comes from all of the 

citizens, which is, ‘‘We need your leadership, and we need your 

courage, and we need people to put aside whatever their partisan 

or regional view is and help each other pass this climate bill and 

get us toward a clean energy—clean and renewable energy future.’’ 

You know, we just cannot take the chance that all four of us are 

correct. Only one of us is—has a different opinion. 

So, thank you. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. Thank you. 

Senator Snowe? 

Senator SNOWE. Thank you. 

47 

Well, just to follow up, Ms. Weaver, because obviously I think 

anybody who sees this documentary can certainly appreciate it, because it graphically portrays the problem that we’re presented globally. And it’s a question of how to communicate that and make it 

more accessible to the public to enhance awareness, because that 

also generates public support for what we do. 

In your travels around the country, or the world, do you sense 

that people understand this, in your discussions? If they have seen 

this video, for example, or if you’ve had a chance to have conversations with people, do you feel that they have a better appreciation 

or understanding? Are they surprised? Or do you think it generates 

support? 

Ms. WEAVER. I think the audiences are very surprised. I think 

this is completely off their radar. There’s been so much attention 

to climate change, global warming, and for many years people 

were—seemed to be happy that the oceans were absorbing so much 

CO2, because it meant that things were not going to heat up quite 

as fast. 

And now the science has—you know, the scientists have discovered that it’s having this unseen, really devastating impact. And I 

respect Dr. Everett’s, you know, statistics, but I have read that, for 

instance, if, in Antarctica, where there’s so much plankton—the 

plankton now, they are 30 percent less strong. Their shells have 

been compared to the shells that were found in the very bottom of 

Antarctica, and their shells are 30 percent less strong. The coral 

is growing off of Australia at a 14- percent less growth. We have 

the oyster beds off the coast of the Northwest. 

I mean, these creatures are like the canaries in a mine, and they 

are sending a message to all of us. And I think my job is certainly 

to try to reach out to, just, citizens and try to continue to carry this 

news, because, frankly, I think, if the man, the woman, and the 

child, certainly, on the street—children in classes—they’re actually 

more hip to the danger we’re facing than a lot of other people. They 

may not have the facts that this film can give them; and when they 

get these facts; they are alarmed; and they know that we can’t afford to waste any more time. We have to face this, and act. 

Senator SNOWE. I appreciate that. And it is true, because public 

education and awareness have to be such a big part of this. And 

you being a great communicator, along with Mr. Waters. Maybe 

you can make a duo. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. WEAVER. We’ll talk about it. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator SNOWE. OK. In any event, communication has to be part 

of it. Communicating what the problem is, in terms of, obviously, 

the solution. 

In Maine, we have the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, which 

is a fabulous institution. I know the NRDC has worked with them, 

and they just screened this video, as a matter of fact, and they 

bring in schoolchildren from around the state to have a chance to 

understand and appreciate marine life, and the maritime way of 

life. 

Ms. WEAVER. Yes. I actually was at Brooklyn Tech, in New York 

last Saturday, where some of us on ‘‘Avatar’’ were giving out ecoVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
48 

warrior awards, and the children spoke so passionately about our 

environment. One little boy said that we are the predators, now, 

and nature is our prey. 

Senator SNOWE. Yes. 

Ms. WEAVER. And I think the kids are really very concerned 

about what’s going on, not only under the water, but all over the 

world and in our atmosphere, and we owe it to them to come up 

with answers now. 

Senator SNOWE. Absolutely. 

Thank you. 

Dr. Barry my question is on public policy. I think, indisputably, 

there is a chemical reaction. I mean, the link is indisputable. And 

the real issue now is the implications of that and what we do, in 

terms of enhancing the certainty about the direction we take. 

At NOAA, can you comment on what you think the policy should 

be? Whether it’s on the research, on the monitoring devices, or the 

biological assessments, for example. What are the issues? Do you 

think they’re moving in the right direction? Because now we really 

have to refine and modify our policies, and I think we need to make 

sure exactly what direction we should be taking at as a committee 

and as a Congress. 

Dr. BARRY. Well, I’ll comment based on the report, because what 

the summary report has—is—that came out just this morning—recommends is a national ocean acidification strategy that is really a 

fairly large program that includes monitoring of conditions 

throughout areas in the ocean, and especially those that we don’t— 

we’re not certain about right now, as well as a program of research 

to try and understand, especially, areas of uncertainty. 

I think that the steps that NOAA has taken with the FOARAM 

Act is a perfect framework to begin with. And this program that 

the Committee is recommending leverages, off ocean observing systems, just about anything that will fit the bill within this framework to try and address this issue. And there’s a lot that can. All 

of those should be used to begin moving forward to try and narrow 

the uncertainties concerning a variety of areas of this research. 

I’m—— 

Senator SNOWE. Well, it’s a 10-year strategy that you’re recommending? 

Dr. BARRY. The recommendation in the FOARAM bill is for a 10- 

year strategy that’s—then is revised. And we—I would have to 

make sure that we follow the same—in the summary, I’m not—I 

can’t recall, specifically, if we—— 

Senator SNOWE. You did. 

Dr. BARRY.—call for 10 years, here, or if there is no timeline. 

This calls for a program that still will require contact with a variety of stakeholders to define exactly what the program would be, 

but it would certainly include characterizing ocean chemistry better 

than we have, as well as trying to figure out, How can we characterize the biology, without spending billions of dollars, so that we 

can document these changes as we move forward? 

Senator SNOWE. OK, are there any areas that we should be 

prioritizing, for example, in all of this and in the areas that you 

have identified? 

Dr. BARRY. Well—— 

49 

Senator SNOWE. Because I think that’s critical. And you mentioned the ocean observing system, which I do, as you know, repeatedly—— 

[Laughter.] 

Senator SNOWE.—and, I don’t know, it is moving in the wrong direction in terms of funding. This is an ideal network that we 

should be using for this purpose, but the funding recommendations 

are undercutting the system. It should be working in tandem. 

Dr. BARRY. Well, the report in the Committee feels that we need 

to leverage off of just about any technology that’s available and any 

system that’s available. But, we did not set priorities for exactly 

which of these research tasks should be placed first. So, if—in 

number five, for example, we come up with eight research priorities 

that are unranked. 

Senator SNOWE. Right. 

Dr. BARRY. And so, the Committee did not rank those, at this 

point. 

Senator SNOWE. OK. But, should they all happen at the same 

time? 

Dr. BARRY. Well, in some cases, if you look through these, they 

do require some overlap, so they’re—in some—some things, you 

would want to do in tandem. It makes no sense, for example, to 

characterize ocean chemistry without parallel biological studies 

going on at the same time. 

I wish I could give you more clear guidance about the priorities, 

but that’s something that we didn’t cover. 

Senator SNOWE. I appreciate it. Thank you. 

Senator CANTWELL. Senator Lautenberg? 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

And thank each one of you for your testimony. 

A couple things that are mystifying for me is the difference in 

perspective that we hear from Mr. Everett—Dr. Everett and the 

others of you. 

And, Mr. Waters, don’t dismiss your articulate skills. Don’t underestimate your message, because it comes from the gut, and 

that’s the kind of thing that we have to hear. And you’re onsite, 

I mean, you’re—you see the effects of problems that are developing 

in our oceans. And obviously we think that—in this particular 

hearing, that one the major ones is the acidification of the oceans 

and its effect on coral, coral being kind of the home place that fish 

can find refuge and procreate and do all of the things that we want 

them to do. 

Dr. Everett, you’re in business, am I correct? You said you had 

a consulting business? 

Dr. EVERETT. Yes, in my—I come from a fishing family, and I 

just—— 

Senator LAUTENBERG. No, but—— 

Dr. EVERETT.—divested of all of that, but I do ocean climate consulting. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. So, and you, therefore, have clients 

and—— 

Dr. EVERETT. Yes. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Yes. 

50 

Dr. EVERETT. And let me say, they’re all public-sector, there are 

no private-sector clients. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Yes. What kind of clients might you have? 

Is it—can you tell us anything about—— 

Dr. EVERETT. Yes, mostly NOAA and United Nations Food and 

Agriculture Organization. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. And do they give you opinions on your conclusions? 

Dr. EVERETT. Not about this. I have no work on climate change 

with NOAA. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. But, you know, you list the things that 

others are concerned about, in your testimony, about loss of shellforming animals, reduced food for those high on the food chain. 

Dr. Barry, do we have specific things? You know, I know we 

often, around here, wait for studies to be concluded, and so forth, 

and it—but, meanwhile, if there’s a fire in the house, you don’t 

have to start figuring out how the fire got started, you’ve got to figure out how to put the fire out. 

Do we have things that you—using my analogy, do you have 

things that you would, say, tell us, ‘‘There is fire there,’’ that these 

are things that we can see, these are things that we can feel, like 

Mr. Waters in his comments? 

Dr. BARRY. I think I understand the question, and this would be 

my personal view of this, as a scientist. And I would say, yes, I 

think there are things that we need to be very concerned about. 

Just as—and let’s say that there isn’t a fire in the house. We would 

certainly insure against the case that we might have one, and 

that’s something we are not doing well with our oceans. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Right. 

Dr. BARRY. In this case—— 

Senator LAUTENBERG. That’s part A. And part B—— 

Dr. BARRY. Right. And then, part B, there are some things that 

are going on, although—it’s interesting to look at how organisms 

respond to changes in their conditions. And let’s—just ocean acidification—it can affect your acid-based balance, but it might be—have 

a positive effect on calcification; or it could affect calcification, but 

at the expense of growth by tissues. And so, there is a lot of responses that organisms perform. 

In general, organisms calcify less under a more—more acidic conditions. But, there are a few species that are anomalous in that 

way. There is a—Dr. Everett mentioned Justin Ries’ paper, which 

surveyed 18 species, showing that several crustaceans, a couple of 

lobsters, actually grew quite a bit larger. 

Now, I know Justin is now looking for funds to try and figure out 

what really happened there, because there have been a variety of 

studies that have shown—in cases where things have calcified 

more, which is not what you’d expect, they’ve actually found that 

they’re—they had tissue loss or they had suffered some other problem, metabolically. 

So, to get back to the point, I think that we have to be worried 

about these trends in ocean chemistry, and the future in ocean 

chemistry, coupled with the information that we have now about 

the responsive organisms. There’s a fire there, or if it’s—if it’s 

51 

not—it may not be a roaring blaze yet, but it’s certainly—there’s 

something starting on the curtains in the corner. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Right. Yes, but do we feel the heat? Do we 

see this—the reality of shells being too soft or even transparent in 

places? Is that there in any quantity that we can point to, that 

we—that reduce the supply of the numbers of crustaceans that 

we—that are out there? 

Dr. BARRY. That’s a tough one, because we don’t have much of 

a context to measure that from. We have not been going along, 

measuring the thickness of shells for a variety of marine animals. 

There are now a few papers that have begun to come out to show 

that, in areas where we think there are some vulnerabilities—and 

in polar areas, that Sigourney mentioned, the calcification of marine terrapods, which are an important prey species for a variety 

of animals—they’re little snails that live and float through the 

water, beautiful little things—their shells are affected by ocean 

acidification. 

And in the Antarctic—in polar regions, in general, the water’s 

colder, it absorbs more CO2, it’s naturally more acidic. And when 

you add the extra burden of CO2 from the atmosphere, it makes 

it that much more acidic, and it’s a more difficult place, in general, 

to make shells. There’s evidence, there, that shell formation is decreasing. 

On—in the Great Barrier Reef, there’s a paper recently that 

came out to show that there has been a reduction in the rate of 

calcification on the reefs itself. And it’s difficult to attribute it to 

either—only to ocean acidification; it may be an acidification and 

global warming or water temperatures rising. 

So, the problem with multiple stressors is that it may be—there’s 

an effect of ocean acidification plus there’s an effect of global warming plus there’s an effect of pollution, but we don’t really understand how those multiple stressors will work. It may not be A plus 

B plus C, it could be A plus B times C; it could be nonlinear. So, 

there are some real problems that we’re not sure of. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Dr. Everett, do you see any warning signs 

that concern you about the condition of the ocean’s ecology? 

Dr. EVERETT. Well, sir, if you had asked me, say, 2 weeks ago, 

before this hearing, I would say that one of my primary concerns 

in the climate change area was ocean acidification. In the preparation of this, 2 weeks, perhaps 10 days of—this is pretty much all 

I did, and, one staff person, all that she did, poring over the literature, getting everything together, the—I changed my testimony 

from being of great concern to being as I testified. And so, 

that’s—— 

Senator LAUTENBERG. What was—just in short form, repeat for 

me the conclusion you’ve come to, that things are—that’s life and, 

you know—let me not speak for you, let me—— 

Dr. EVERETT. No, I think what Dr. Barry said is—I agree, 100 

percent, and we need to find out whether the conclusion I came to, 

which says it’s—acidification is important, but doesn’t look like it’s 

a problem. But, we need to find out, it—you know, am I wrong? 

And let’s follow the research protocol being laid out for NOAA and 

others, and let’s get at the bottom of it. 

52 

I come from a fishing family, as I said; and my father could also, 

as Mr. Waters, speak very eloquently. And my father didn’t go to 

college, but he spoke from the heart. And we’re very much in favor 

of the clean environment. Let’s clean up our act. OK? That’s the 

important thing. I’m not a CO2 advocate. I’m just saying that I 

don’t see damage. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. Well, you had a quick study, there, obviously. You’ve been—10 days, 2 weeks. You—— 

Dr. EVERETT. Oh, I—but, I’ve done it for close to 30 years. This 

was a brush-up. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. So, then you were a slow study for a lot 

of years—— 

Dr. EVERETT. Yes. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator LAUTENBERG.—before that. 

Dr. EVERETT. That’s right. 

Senator LAUTENBERG. The—we’re not fishing families, but we are 

fish-eating people, and I thank you all for your testimony. 

Sigourney, you look like you want to say something. And I don’t 

have the—I’m the seniority in the Committee, as you see, to cut 

you off, so—[Laughter.] 

Ms. WEAVER. I hope that Dr. Everett watches our documentary. 

It’s not fiction. And certainly I’ve done enough science fiction to 

know that the Earth can survive, in various forms, through lots of 

different nightmarish scenarios. But, again, that’s sort of entertainment. And, as a citizen, I think that we simply cannot take the 

chance. We have to be on guard. We have to see these warning 

signs and act, and be able to look in our children’s eyes in 20 years 

and say, ‘‘Yes, we did the right thing when we got these early reports. We acted. We didn’t have all the information, but we had 

enough to know which direction we should go in.’’ 

Senator LAUTENBERG. I thank the Chair—— 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. Thank you. 

Senator LAUTENBERG.—colleagues for the—— 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. 

Senator Begich? 

STATEMENT OF HON. MARK BEGICH, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I’ll 

try to go through my questions, here, and then I’ve got to get back 

to another committee. I have some amendments pending. 

Let me ask, just first off, from Alaska, you know, we have—62 

percent of the fresh-caught fish in the country comes from Alaska, 

so we have a huge interest in the issue of climate change or acidification of waters, as one element of it. We also see the greatest impacts. There’s no other state that sees it, compared to us. So, I 

want to—most of you already know that. 

But, as I look at the document I have here, which is the draft— 

and I know you’re going to have a much more formal, probably 

much thicker, nicer-looking, glossy top to it or whatever—but, let 

me ask you—when I look at the recommendations—and you have 

several through here—I think it was asked a little bit—are you 

going to—and I try to be realistic in all the work we do here, and 

53 

I’m probably more aggressive now than ever before. I—we just had 

broadband, and a presentation on that last—a week or so ago, but 

presented a nice, big plan. I know enough that—serving in public 

office for almost, now, 20 years, that I’ve learned one thing, that 

a lot of plans end up on a great many shelves, and they look great, 

20 years later, when we review them and find out what we didn’t 

do. So, are you going to, in your recommendations, prioritize, recognizing the resources of this country are limited? 

Now, I will say this, saying that I do believe this is an important 

issue. I can tell you, the fishermen I talk to on a regular basis— 

just like Mr. Waters—on a regular basis—we have the best-managed fisheries in the country, if not, in my belief, in the world, 

when it comes to Alaska fisheries. But, the greatest threat is acidification, because it can’t be managed by the fishermen, by themselves. And so, by that fact, after managing for more than 20, 30 

years—and we’ve gone through the catch shares and all that, and 

we’re glad we’ve done everything we’ve done. We still have our fish 

wars, but they’re not like they were in the 1970s, and because of 

that we have an—incredibly successful fisheries. But, the piece 

that is the most dangerous, even if we believe a little bit or a lot, 

between the two doctors, it is a threat that cannot be managed 

after the fact. 

So, can you tell me, as you look at this, are you prioritizing to 

where we need to hone in resource-wise and subject-wise? I think 

that was one of the questions on policy. Because all of us will love 

to do everything in the report—who believe in this—but we have 

to be realistic of what we need to do first and how it has the longest impact. Are you going to do that? I know it’s tough in a lot of 

these reports. Because they like to just give the recommendations 

and say, ‘‘You’re the policymakers, you figure it out.’’ But we’re all 

in this ship together. 

Dr. BARRY. Agreed. We were tasked with saying, What do we 

need to do about this problem?—in a nutshell. So, we don’t have 

a series of priorities for you, but what we do state is that, in order 

for this program to move forward, we must get together repeatedly 

with a variety of stakeholders, certainly the sponsors, and design 

explicitly what this is going to entail. 

At that point, what I would anticipate, is the starting point for 

where these priorities are going to start to fall out. Who’s going to 

ocean observing? What piece of the pie must that be? Where are 

the highest research priorities, or where’s the most economical 

place to start? Those are the sorts of considerations that the Committee was not tasked with. But, I can certainly see how that 

would start to play out once you really sat down and said, ‘‘OK, 

let’s get moving on this.’’ 

Now, getting moving on this is something that has already started to happen through the FOARAM Act, and, in part, the stimulus 

money. So, there—— 

Senator BEGICH. Sure. 

Dr. BARRY.—there’s a lot of traction, I guess, is what you use 

here, for this. And so, I—although I can’t tell you where those priorities lie, I think there is a mechanism by which those will be defined. 

Senator BEGICH. Very good. 

54 

Let me ask both of you, Dr. Barry and Dr. Everett, do you think 

we have—this may be a very leading question, but do you think we 

have enough resources at this point to really understand what 

acidification of the waters means? To either one of you first, whoever wants to go first. 

Dr. BARRY. Well, I guess I’ll go first. 

Senator BEGICH. Do the Federal agencies, not necessarily—just 

so I—because that’s what we deal with. 

Dr. BARRY. I mean, that’s a little bit of an ambiguous question, 

so I can’t really answer that in the context of the report, but I will 

answer that personally. And my view of this is—the first thing I’d 

say is that what we think is going to happen is that the oceans are 

going to be different. They’re not going to die, life will continue, the 

oceans will thrive, but they’re going to be different, and that may 

be quite disruptive for humans and society—societal economies. 

I’m not sure if we have the funds to understand everything, or 

the support to understand everything, about ocean acidification, 

but we can certainly make significant progress. We’ve already done 

this. This is a new field, the term was coined maybe 5 years ago. 

Senator BEGICH. Right. 

Dr. BARRY. And so we’re moving fast, now. There’s a lot that we 

can make—make hay with right now. 

Senator BEGICH. Dr. Everett? 

Dr. EVERETT. Yes, I agree. And the—as perspective, I perhaps 

have, at this moment, maybe 60 or 70 contracts of—working on 

fisheries and oceans, none of them are on acidification. 

Senator BEGICH. None are. 

Dr. EVERETT. None at all. 

Senator BEGICH. That’s very interesting. Well, thank you very 

much. 

And, Ms. Weaver, thank you for putting your voice to the message. As the fishermen—I love your—I love that we picked Mr. 

Waters to be here to represent the fishing community, because the 

name is appropriate. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BEGICH. But, I think that putting the voice to the struggles of what I see—not necessarily in the Gulf that you fish, Mr. 

Waters, but the Gulf of Alaska and throughout Alaska—putting a 

voice to it and helping advocate, I really appreciate that, because, 

I think, if you asked me, 4 or 5 years ago, I wouldn’t have much 

knowledge on acidification. 

When I was Mayor of Anchorage, I became more and more aware 

of it, because our city had the largest amount of commercial fishermen licenses there, even though they fished the whole state. And 

then, as I traveled, especially in southeast Alaska, I really started 

to hear the issue more and more. So, thank you for your willingness to kind of step to the plate, put your voice to it. 

And, Mr. Waters, I think you did great today. You know, fisherman, usually the meetings I’m in—and, I’m sure, my colleagues are 

in—usually they’re yelling at each other. So, I appreciate your passion, directed in a way that is going to have, hopefully, some positive results. So, thank you very much. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Senator Begich. He did mention 

Magnuson-Stevens, so—I mean, he did preface—— 

55 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CANTWELL.—his—— 

Senator BEGICH. I wasn’t sure if he was going to go somewhere 

there on that, so—— 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. WATERS. Keep it closed. 

Senator CANTWELL. So, one of the things that—we’re going to do 

one more round. And I know—then we’re going to let our panelists 

go. But, one of the things—we’ve talked a lot about fish, but I— 

if we could go back to the coral reef situation for a second, because 

obviously not only does acidification affect that, I’m concerned that 

it might prevent the coral reefs from even—that, you know, that 

initial damage might prohibit it from regrowing. And as people 

have explained to me, this is almost like our rain forest, if you will, 

for the species that live in that particular environment, so if you 

could talk about that. 

And then I want Mr. Waters and Mr. Ingram to talk about, Well, 

what are the kind of early warning systems that you see, that you 

think we should be doing as part of solutions? 

Dr. BARRY. Well, concerning coral reefs, coral reefs are certainly 

dependent upon calcification. 

Senator CANTWELL. And I should just mention to people, we have 

many coral reefs in the Northwest, and my colleague from Alaska 

can tell you about the coral reefs in his areas, so—— 

Dr. BARRY. Well, you also have them offshore, in deeper waters, 

too. I’m a deep sea ecologist, so I have a little bias toward the 

things that live in deep waters. But shallow-water reefs certainly 

depend upon calcification. And when you couple calcification with— 

I’m sorry—ocean acidification with warming, we’ve seen coral 

bleaching, just due to warming; and if that persists for a couple 

weeks, the corals die. The reefs will remain intact until they dissolve. As we make the oceans more acidic, then—or less alkaline— 

then they certainly could begin to erode more quickly. 

And the tropical Pacific—actually, if there is a—if I could get a 

slide up, this shows the change in the aragonite saturation state, 

how much saturation of carbonate minerals are in the ocean. And 

this is a little bit complicated—whoops—well, this is a movie, produced by Sarah Cooley at WHOI, which is—the reds are areas— 

you can see the scale, going from purple to red. Purple means 

that—4.5 means there’s a lot of carbonate minerals around to make 

their shells. And as things get lower—and corals when they get to 

around 2.2, 2.3—below that, it’s becoming hard to calcify. If you go 

below 1, into the red, exposed carbonate minerals will dissolve, just 

because the ocean is sufficiently acidic at that point. 

So, as we move from 1900, at the beginning of this slide, to the 

right, at 2100, we see that the red starts to take over, and the 

purples and dark blues disappear. And I think this will stop, after 

this last one, and you’ll see, at the end, toward the end of this century, the conditions for creating calcium carbonate are much, much 

weaker, and that the chemical conditions are not as appropriate as 

they are now or as they were in the past. 

Now, what happens in the long run? In the long run, when we 

make this ocean more acidic, that makes it harder to make the 

skeletons. There’s evidence from different areas that are either 

56 

more acidic or less acidic now. In areas where corals are living 

where it is now more acidic, they cement that calcium carbonate 

more weakly, so they have more fragile skeletons, which allows 

more rapid coastal erosion, et cetera. 

And as you move into the future, if all of the areas that are creating corals are more fragile cementation of that calcium carbonate, that means that they’re much more susceptible to erosion 

if they die or when they die. And so, if you add warming on top 

of the story, all of a sudden we have a bunch of reefs that are now 

dead, that could be eroded. 

Now, I can’t—there’s no certainty that that’s going to happen. 

But, it—there’s quite a bit of worry in the scientific community, 

particularly about shallow water or tropical coral reefs. 

That being said, once you change that reef structure, because 

they’re such an important structure-forming part of the community, 

everything else can change with it. So, instead of a coral-dominated 

community, with all the animals that you have now, and plants, 

you start to algal-dominated community, which has a whole different suite of things that may be completely different, in terms of 

its ecology, completely different for the services it provides, in 

terms of scuba divers, fishing, coastline protection, or even as a 

source of biodiversity that we—that pharmaceutical companies are 

interested in, to try and look for new medicines. 

So, in a kind of a wide-ranging tome, there’s my answer for you. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. 

Mr. Waters, early warning systems. What should we be doing, or 

what do you think the fishing industry sees as ways to participate 

in helping with this information? 

Mr. WATERS. Yes, ma’am. Well, so far, I only know of one thing, 

where the Coast Guard wants to do some baseline studies in the 

Gulf of Mexico. And our biggest threat is considered hypoxia, which 

is the nutrients coming down the Mississippi River, creating dead 

zones where we’re at. But I think these baseline studies would be 

just a pure minimum for the monitoring of the Gulf of Mexico. I 

would like to see some funding for some more active and more 

proactive monitoring to see if we having any kind of acidity change 

in the Gulf of Mexico. Because, like all these doctors are saying, 

the colder waters absorb the carbon faster than the warm waters. 

So, I can’t really sit here and tell you that I’m watching my fish 

die or my oysters die from acidification, but I also want to keep my 

eyes open. I don’t want to turn my back on it, and I don’t want to— 

I’d love to believe in Dr. Everett, and I’m scared to death of Dr. 

Barry. And—— 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. WATERS. So, I mean, I’ve really—you know, my whole life, 

my family’s life, is all in a fishing community. And even though we 

fish hard against other fishermen, and they don’t seem to be your 

friends, if you ever holler ‘‘mayday,’’ they are your friends. So, at 

this time, we just—we really need to keep our eyes open and have 

some fundings to monitor this in the southern regions, and I believe a little more proactive in the northern regions, and really see 

what’s going on in this. 

Thank you. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. 

57 

Mr. Ingram? 

Mr. INGRAM. I guess this—this seems to me like the proverb of 

boiling a frog. We don’t really know precisely that somebody’s turning up the heat on us just yet, because we haven’t really felt it. 

And if we were that frog in water that was being increasingly heated, we would, sooner or later, find ourselves in deep trouble. 

We, in the diving industry—you know, there are three and a half 

million active divers in the United States. And some of those people are scientists, and some of them have been able to help us to 

understand what’s going on around us. We have a couple of environmental organizations that are very tightly tied to the diving industry—the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, the Coral 

Reef Alliance, and the Project AWARE Foundation. And they do 

help us to understand what’s going on. They very frequently provide us with information that helps to educate all of our constituents about what’s going on. 

But, I think, for us, the biggest issue that we would need is to 

work with somebody like Jim Barry, like Dr. Everett, to help us to 

understand what those early warning signs could be. There’s a lot 

of signs that we see firsthand, as I mentioned before, that are signs 

that there is something wrong. There’s coral bleaching that’s taking 

place. We see, unfortunately, trash on the bottom of the ocean. We 

see all sorts of different things, from pollution, that probably 

should not be there. And so, when we do see those things, we try 

to do our best to clean that stuff up and get it off the bottom, and 

also report it to those organizations that can help us to keep our 

area clean. 

So, I think, for us—from the diving industry’s perspective, the 

thing, for us, that would be the most critical would be for us to continue our education toward understanding, so that we can help to 

provide as much information as we possibly can on reporting 

what’s happening as the heat gets turned up on our frog. 

Senator CANTWELL. Well, thank you, Mr. Ingram. 

And I will just say, I—you know, I know, Mr. Waters, you’re saying, you know, this event has, you know, worried on one side or listening to the results. I mean, my—you met one of our Northwest 

shell growers, and you saw what he was going through. And I can 

tell you, we don’t want that to continue or to broaden to a larger 

group and classification of either the shellfish industry or the fishing industry. And that’s why I think this letter from the shellfish 

growers and the commercial fishermen, today that we received, 

about how important this is, and making sure that we come up 

with answers. 

That’s—I can’t say to shellfish growers who’ve been in Washington State for 126 years, ‘‘We’re going to do nothing.’’ I simply 

can’t. So, we’re going to get answers, and we want to work with 

you. 

Senator Snowe, do you have any—— 

Senator SNOWE. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just briefly. 

Mr. Waters, certainly we want to prevent any trauma to your industry. I know, speaking firsthand, in my own state, many of our 

sectors in the fishing industry, particularly the groundfish industry, is faced with tremendous challenges, the reduction of the number of days at sea, and enormous Federal regulations are a result 

58 

of what has happened in the past, in losing so much of their fisheries, and trying to rebuild it now. That’s what we’ve got to avoid 

and to prevent and preempt. It’s always a delicate balancing act 

about whether you do too much or too little, and that’s the debate 

that even is reflected here today, in some senses, in how far we go. 

And also, from my standpoint of the fishing community in Maine, 

a couple of things that are really important. The credibility and the 

integrity of the science is so important to the outcome and the decisions that have to be made as a result and collaboration should 

exist between the scientists and the fishermen. 

Think about the Gulf of Mexico. I mean, talk about a dead 

zone—7– to 8,000 square miles literally described as a dead zone 

because of hypoxia. I have introduced legislation that has passed 

out of this committee to assist in that effort, but as you mentioned, 

acidification cannot be considered in a vacuum. There are so many 

other aspects that are affecting, and could affect, your livelihood. 

So, do you see your fishing community with whom you work, recognizing that this is a serious issue, and that fishermen can play 

a vital role in helping in this process of scientific research? 

Mr. WATERS. Ms. Snowe, it’s—we’ve had so many fires in our 

cabin with fighting catch share—or not fighting against catch 

share, as we’ve come to you before—or I have visited your office 

and had help from you and other things with Magnuson and Stevens. But, there are so many fires in the fishing industry. As you 

know, I spent last week with some of the monk fishermen in Galveston with the Fishermen’s Exchange. It—it’s—you know, it just 

hasn’t been brought forward. 

I mean, we’re having a presentation in Tampa by an organization 

for—The Gulf of Mexico Shareholders Alliance. The Alliance signed 

off—you know, I was the founding president of the Alliance, and 

they signed off on this, and they’re becoming aware. And this is a 

new topic. I mean, we’ve had so many battles. And how many battles can you fight? You, yourself, know of how many issues you 

have to deal with in 1 day. How many issues can you deal with as 

a person? And a lot of our fishermen don’t have staffs as intelligent 

or as responsible as your staffs, relaying information to you. 

So, I believe it’s going to come to the forefront, it’s coming very 

quickly. And, like I said, the news is just reaching our fishermen. 

And talking to some of the fishermen from your area last week, you 

know, it’s concerning them. I mean, when you start getting other 

fishermen, and you sit down and have your discussion, and they 

say, ‘‘Well, it’s killing us. Our oysters are dying,’’ and stuff like 

this. So it’s, you know, we—we’ve had the issues of management 

and turf wars, the days at sea, the sectors, and on and on and on 

and on and on. And I mean, it’s just—— 

Senator SNOWE. I know. 

Mr. WATERS.—we’ve got to go fishing sometimes. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator SNOWE. I know. I couldn’t agree with you more, you’re 

right on. You’re absolutely right. I think people would be surprised 

to what degree the fishing industry is regulated by the Federal 

Government. I sympathize and empathize. 

Mr. WATERS. But, I do thank you for your support. 

59 

Senator SNOWE. But, your eyes and ears are on the water, and 

you can share firsthand information, so that’s what’s important. 

My fishing industry asked for us to be part of the process and to 

make sure we’re doing our part and investing in quality research 

so that whatever emerges from that research and the decisions that 

are made, they are ones that they can accept and embrace. 

Mr. WATERS. Yes, ma’am, and I do appreciate your concerns. And 

mostly my cries have been from other fishermen warning me of 

what’s coming to my area, from their heart, just as I have spoke 

to you from my heart. And I appreciate your help with us. 

Senator SNOWE. We thank you for giving your time, your precious time, away from your work. So, we thank you very much. 

Mr. Ingram, your clients as well, do they recognize this issue? 

Because coral reefs are very integral to the diving industry. So, do 

you see a general awareness? 

Mr. INGRAM. Well, as Dr. Barry indicated, the term was only 

coined about 5 years ago, so it is—it’s just coming to the forefront. 

We have seen a number of articles that have been posted within 

our industry to start to educate. And the fine film, ‘‘Acid Test,’’ has 

really been kind of making its way through the diving industry 

here, of late. And I think that that is a key to this, because, as I 

said before, we have 3 and a half million divers out there that are 

watching what’s going on with the coral reefs. And they can be a 

wealth of information to everyone here at this table. So, I think it’s 

an important thing for us to continue to be involved, as well, to be 

able to help the scientists, as best we can, but also help from the 

standpoint that I think we can look at this from an economic standpoint, as well, just as Donny has indicated. 

Diving feeds our families, and we want them to be able to do 

that. And we have to do that for the long haul. It’s not just for the 

short run. It’s for both, actually; both are critical. 

Senator SNOWE. Thank you. 

Dr. BARRY AND DR. Everett, on the issue of research versus mitigation, the question is, first of all, How much research is necessary 

to determine whether or not mitigation steps are essential? Are we 

doing enough research, at the Federal level right now, that is sufficient to warrant steps to be taken? How much research and how 

much funding should we be spending on research? I think that’s 

the real question, because, obviously, between you, Dr. Barry and 

Dr. Everett, there are some differences and questions on not— 

whether or not there is sufficient science. That’s what I’m hearing 

from Dr. Everett and that would suggest that there is a real problem. 

On the other hand, do we know that we’re spending enough 

money on sufficient research to document the problem, and whether or not we should take the next step for mitigation or adaptation, 

whatever the case may be? 

Dr. BARRY. I think—so, there are a couple questions here really. 

One of them, Is there—are we doing enough right now? This committee was charged with defining, What do we need to do, as a Nation, to get a grip on this problem? And so, the report that was released today really does outline what this committee feels are the 

necessary steps that we should take in order to find out what’s 

going on, get to the bottom of this science, so that we can underVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
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stand what’s going to happen in the future, much—or at least constrain the range of possibilities so that it will give us some power 

to adapt, as a Nation, as a society. 

How much money should we put into this is something that the 

scientific community would love to tell you. I’d love to help you say 

that we should do this or that, but that’s not something that we 

were charged with, and it’s probably good to separate that. Just as 

we would love to say, as a committee, here’s what the priorities 

should be, because we have—each have our own key ideas of what 

we think should be done. But, that’s also not really appropriate, 

and that’s not something the Committee addressed. 

Senator SNOWE. Dr. Everett, what are your views? 

Dr. EVERETT. Well, one of the ways to look at it is—as I said, 

presently I’m not involved in any of the work. It’s highly likely I 

would be. And so, the—there’s very little being done. 

Now, if the—one of the ways that I always looked at it, when I 

was head of policy and planning at the Fishery Service, was to— 

you know, how important is the problem, OK?—and—versus the 

amount of money being spent on it, versus the other problems? You 

know, it—does it merit just a fraction of 1 percent, or, you know, 

is it fundamental, and therefore, it ought to be several percent? 

And when you look at it, I think the funding now is below 1 percent, even in the plans. And so, if it’s a bigger problem, then guidance is needed from you all. So—— 

Senator SNOWE. Thank you. 

Thank you. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. 

Thank you. And I want to thank Dr. Everett, Dr. Barry, Ms. 

Weaver, Mr. Waters, Mr. Ingram, for your testimony today. 

Senator Snowe and I and Senator Lautenberg, along with 20 of 

our colleagues, are calling for Fiscal Year 2011 funding for ocean 

acidification and monitoring and research. So, we are going to be 

proceeding, moving ahead on this issue. So, we thank you. 

We want to, specifically, thank you, too, for being here on the 

40th anniversary of Earth Day. I think we all helped make sure 

that the oceans got their fair due in this big debate about our planet, that—70 percent of our Earth’s planet being oceans, that not all 

is well underneath those waters, and we need to be good stewards 

of that part of our planet, as well. 

So, thank you for helping us illuminate that, and for your testimony today. 

The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:54 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

(61) 

A P P E N D I X 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE TO

THOMAS INGRAM

Question 1. When we’re faced with scientific uncertainty about how present actions will impact the future environment, it makes decisions to permit or prohibit 

certain actions more difficult. Because your industry is likely to be affected by whatever regulatory action is taken to deal with this issue, how do you feel that public 

participation should be incorporated into the policy-making process to minimize negative impacts on your industry today and in the future? 

Answer. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your thoughtful questions. 

We appreciate being included in this discussion. 

There are a number of ways that public participation should be incorporated into 

the policy-making process to minimize the negative impacts on the diving industry, 

both for today and for the future. 

a. I recommend strongly that such active participation and discussion continue 

through DEMA. We are eager to assist, and can continue operating as a conduit 

of information and feedback for this government body from both the professional 

and consumer perspective. 

As the trade association for the Recreational Diving Industry DEMA has members encompassing the five different active major stakeholder groups in the industry; equipment manufacturers, training organizations, retail dive centers, 

travel/boat operators, non-retail services and the media. Any legislation enacted 

will have an impact on one or more of these stakeholder groups. As DEMA’s 

Board and staff can provide information and help facilitate communication with 

members of the industry, we are glad to offer our assistance and play a continuing role in the process. In addition, several diving-related NGO’s also exist 

with which DEMA interacts, such as the Project AWARE Foundation and the 

Reef Environmental Education Foundation. These NGO’s can assist with policy 

input and communications to the general public. 

DEMA can provide business-related information to this Senate Committee as 

well as operational details needed to help this body understand the long term 

impact of legislation for the industry/professional diving community. DEMA has 

the capability and expertise to make general recommendations on methodologies to protect this important resource and soliciting the input of business professionals. Working directly with the professional diving community as we do, 

DEMA will assist by keeping this issue in front of the professional audience. 

DEMA is positioned to assist this body in reaching the diving consumer to bring 

Ocean Acidification and any legislative activity to their attention. 

b. In addition to utilizing DEMA’s resources to reach the professional and consumer audience, we believe the best way to incorporate public participation in 

policy-making is to bring the proposed policies before this intelligent audience 

in a series of face-to-face meeting opportunities, as well as to provide access to 

the information through government and private websites and other communication means. By working through DEMA, through the environmental NGO’s 

and though members of the professional dive community, meeting notifications, 

explanations of the pros and cons of proposed legislation and ample time for 

analysis will provide the kind of transparency needed to develop agreement 

within this diverse but involved community. 

Question 2. As you pointed out in your testimony, divers can act as stewards of 

the marine environment, and their contributions to coastal economies are substantial. Coral bleaching events and die-offs as a result of ocean acidification and rising 

sea temperatures have already affected your industry, and the downturn in the 

economy seems to be affecting your industry as well. Overall, ocean acidification has 

the potential to impact your business on an even broader scale. What kinds of monitoring data or other research activities would most benefit industries like yours that 

62 

support coastal communities while simultaneously building public appreciation for 

the oceans? 

Answer. It appears that a need exists for accurate, readily available, and easily 

understood baseline information regarding the health of aquatic resources which 

may be impacted by ocean acidification. Developing consumer-friendly baseline information for such resources as coral reefs, current ocean pH, marine life activity 

and growth, and other biological factors should make it easier for the professional 

and consumer diving communities to observe and provide feedback on advancement 

of the phenomenon and on its correction should legislation be enacted. As previously 

mentioned, the diving-related NGO’s such as the Project AWARE Foundation and 

Reef Environmental Education Foundation, along with DEMA, can assist in developing and dispersing such baseline data to the diving community. 

In addition to baseline scientific data that provides references for the biological 

processes impacted by ocean acidification, it is also important to develop and use 

baseline economic data for the diving related businesses that may be impacted by 

any enacted legislation. These small (and sometimes micro-sized) businesses depend 

on the availability of inexpensive energy, in the form of fuel for diving vessels, electricity to run their land and electronic operations and easy, inexpensive, and unfettered access to diving locations. Direct and indirect jobs as well as induced jobs and 

the tax-revenues generated by them, are likely to be impacted by any legislation 

which restricts or otherwise impairs the diving business community. While DEMA 

has provided some of this current economic data as part of our Senate Committee 

testimony, this data should be considered when legislation is proposed. 

In summary, divers want to be involved. A clear set of economic and biological 

baselines and guidelines to monitor changes will help keep divers involved and will 

help divers advocate for economic and biological resource protection. 

Question 2a. In your interactions with your clients, do you get the sense that the 

general public awareness of ocean acidification is growing? 

Yes, but public awareness still remains somewhat limited. Using vehicles such as 

the video presentation ‘‘Acid Test’’ has been helpful in generating public awareness. 

The opportunity for DEMA to testify before this committee was also helpful in 

bringing the issue to the attention of the professional members of the diving community. The DEMA Board of Directors has also indicated their desire to provide more 

economic information to assist in educating the professional diving stakeholder 

groups. 

Question 2b. How can your industry contribute to, and benefit from, increased 

public awareness of this issue? 

There are three means by which this industry can contribute to public awareness 

of ocean acidification: 

1. Professional members, environmental NGO’s and consumer participants in 

the diving industry have the unique opportunity to observe first-hand any impacts or changes in the close-to-shore aquatic environment. Divers can contribute to the body of directly observable information available to this committee and any scientific or economic group involved in the future. 

2. DEMA, the organization, and diving’s environmental NGO’s, can contribute 

to public awareness through the use of published papers written by qualified 

member groups, through the educational component its annual trade-only convention, by disseminating information directly to its professional members for 

further distribution to diving consumers, and by disseminating information directly to diving consumers through videos, articles and other means, such as the 

consumer diving website, www.BeADiver.com. 

3. Because diving has a high level of visual media appeal, the diving industry 

can continue to offer its resources to groups that provide science-based and economics-based information for media dissemination. DEMA has made such an 

opportunity available for showing the previously mentioned ‘‘Acid Test’’ video 

during the annual trade-only DEMA Show, and invited Sigourney Weaver to 

participate. As you well know, such opportunities draw media attention to these 

issues, helping to increase public awareness. 

The diving industry will benefit from increased public awareness of this phenomenon in several ways: 

1. Senate Committee involvement and concern with this issue brings aquatic resources and diving to attention of the general public, generally having a positive 

effect on diving participation. 

2. Protecting our aquatic resources is absolutely necessary to health of the recreational scuba diving and snorkeling industries. Without a healthy aquatic enVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
63 

vironment and ease of access to that environment, these industries cannot exist. 

As we have seen in the last few weeks, even the suggestion of aquatic resource 

degradation can have a devastating effect on these industries. When we consider that diving businesses in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and 

even Texas are being impacted by the mere publicity surrounding the current 

Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the economic damage that could be caused to these 

industries by ocean acidification, true oil spill damage, and other real environmental problems should be apparent. 

3. Bringing attention to this issue provides the industry with a better understanding of the governmental role in protecting these resources, and provides 

an opportunity to demonstrate DEMA’s role in assisting these businesses by 

helping to protect them. It also provides an opportunity for stakeholders in the 

diving industry to develop a greater understanding of the economics of the diving industry and provides them with guidelines for operating using long and 

short-term objectives that preserve this industry. 

Ranking Member Snowe, we again applaud the efforts of this committee. Your 

willingness to solicit input from a variety of sources in the professional and lay communities is a good example of private industry and government working together 

to understand the issues and bring them to the public for their careful consideration. Thank you for your service and your continued interest. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTION SUBMITTED BY HON. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE TO

DONALD A. WATERS

Question. When we’re faced with scientific uncertainty about how present actions 

will impact the future environment, it makes decisions to permit or prohibit certain 

actions more difficult. Because your industry is likely to be affected by whatever 

regulatory action is taken to deal with this issue, how do you feel that public participation should be incorporated into the policy-making process to minimize negative 

impacts on your industry today and in the future? 

Answer. Thank you for asking about this, Senator Snowe. After reading your 

question I think it’s possible that we share some of the same hopes and concerns. 

And I do have some ideas about how to make a public process that might help us 

find a good, balanced way to move forward. 

We Need Balanced Solutions 

I’m happy to see your interest in dealing with ocean acidification, because it looks 

like a problem for fishermen and shellfish growers. I’m also happy to see that you 

aren’t rushing into radical measures to eliminate carbon emissions no matter what 

the consequences. I support your effort in the Senate to cap carbon emissions from 

utilities. It’s a step in the right direction. If it reduces the amount of acid going into 

the ocean, I can live with a small increase in my utility bill. Once I get used to that, 

I might be ready to go the next step. You’ve already got power companies in the 

Northeast working in a regional emissions-reduction program that shows they can 

do this without breaking the economy. To scale that up sounds like a practical way 

to go. 

Use Public Involvement For Science 

You asked about public process, and as far as fishermen are concerned I can tell 

you that’s a very welcome question. From talking to fishermen I know around the 

country, I can tell you the stakes are high and the knowledge about ocean acidification is low. There aren’t many of us who really know a lot about what carbon emissions do to our fisheries. There are a lot of rumors and fears out there about what 

it might cost to solve this problem. We need to understand the problem better, and 

we also need to understand the solutions better. 

I also want to suggest that a really good public involvement program might help 

the whole country deal with this problem. Ocean acidification could be a problem 

for the whole nation. The oil spill in the Gulf has made it pretty clear that when 

the ocean gets messed up, the consequences reach a long way from the coast. When 

it stays healthy, there are benefits for everyone. 

A good public process on the waterfront might help at both ends of this problem. 

There’s the science end where we need to understand what’s happening to the 

ocean, and there’s the policy end where we need to do something about it. 

I’ll start with the science. We all need to understand the problem of ocean acidification better. There are a lot of us who spend our working lives on the water. We 

can help the scientists look in the right places. This problem of acidification is imVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
64 

portant to fishermen, even though we don’t know much about it yet. It has the potential to affect our livelihood. We don’t now how yet, but we need to find out. 

Consulting with fishermen and aquaculture people and divers can help scientists 

deliver a good, focused research and monitoring program on acidification. Scientists 

are gearing up the national research program on acidification under the FOARAM 

Act that you helped to pass in 2009 (and thank you for that, it was a good first 

step). 

I know the funding for the research and monitoring is modest, because there’s a 

real need to control Federal spending. In April several Senators on this subcommittee mentioned this when they asked how to prioritize investment in research 

and monitoring. That’s a good question to put to a combined group of scientists and 

user groups, and I know you’re going to be hearing some ideas about that soon from 

people who are already pulling some of those groups together. Those of us who work 

on the water, fishermen and divers and growers, can help figure out where to get 

the best bang for your buck. We can point scientists to the places that produce the 

most seafood, and together we can pinpoint the resources that might be affected the 

most or the soonest. We can also help by working with scientists to collect data and 

water samples and provide boats for at-sea research. 

We might even be able to help work out ways to duck some of the damage that 

acidification may cause to fisheries and aquaculture. I’m not saying we can live with 

an ocean that doesn’t produce fish any more. I do not buy the idea that we just have 

to accept destruction and ‘‘get used it.’’ The oyster hatcheries on the West Coast 

aren’t waiting around for the world to stop emitting carbon dioxide. They’ve already 

taken some hard punches from corrosive water that dissolves their oyster larvae before they can grow. They’re trying to find ways to protect their oyster larvae by 

monitoring chemical changes in the seawater. They are timing when they try to 

grow larvae so they can take advantage ‘‘good water’’ periods. They are doing 

broodstock research to try to improve the oysters’ resistance to low-pH seawater. 

They are at the front line, and the rest of us should be learning from them and 

teaming up to help them beat this problem. 

Go Local and Regional 

If you really want to get people prepared to deal with this problem, it will probably take a lot of meetings. Fishing is local, and the knowledge that fishermen can 

offer is local. It’s a big job, but you could do a lot of good by reaching out to fishermen and seafood growers and other users in the bayous, in the little bays up the 

coast of Maine, in the ports where they fish in Alaska—all around the country. 

Public Involvement For Policy 

Senator Snowe, you’re absolutely right that anything you do to reduce carbon 

emissions is going to affect fishermen. Doing nothing will affect us too, if this problem turns out to be as serious as most of the scientists say. 

It’s fairly obvious that fishermen are going to see changes in the ocean. For example, back in the 1970s in the Gulf of Mexico I used to pull up a very thin-shelled, 

delicate thing called a paper nautilus, and I hardly ever see them now. If you ask, 

fishermen might give you a lot of observations like that, and maybe scientists can 

use that information to understand what’s happening. 

Fishermen have a stake in both sides of this problem. Whatever you do, we want 

it to work. We need the sea to be healthy so it still produces lots of fish. At the 

same time we need to run boats so we can go out and bring that food home from 

the sea. We need affordable fuel to do that. 

If you can find a way of reducing carbon emissions that fishermen can live with, 

then the odds are good that most other people can get comfortable with it too. 

I understand that one of the ways to reduce emissions is to put a price on carbon 

emissions, and maybe at some point we’ll have to live with higher costs at the fuel 

pump. We hear reports that the EPA is taking steps to regulate emissions from fishing boats and other commercial marine vessels. We know that fishing vessels are 

a tiny source of emissions, but if it is done fairly, a lot of us will probably be willing 

to do our part, especially if there is help available to fishermen for the investment 

that may be required to make boats more fuel-efficient. 

I make my whole living from the ocean. As long as it doesn’t drive me broke, I’m 

more than willing to pull my share of the load to keep it healthy. 

I think a good public process might ask people how to encourage more fuel efficiency. In fishing, those who can afford the investment can cut fuel use by 

repowering, or putting in more efficient generators, pumps, and other things. There 

are also some out-of-the-box approaches like changing the way fisheries are managed and regulated so they can become more fuel-efficient. This isn’t for everybody, 

but one example is the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery, where we went to a catchVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
65 

share system. It reduced the fuel each of us burns to catch a fish, and it also led 

to fleet reduction. Put the two together and you see a drastic reduction in the 

amount of fuel used in our fishery. Now, I don’t want to force catch shares on fisheries that don’t want them, and I’m not saying the same approach will work everywhere. But if the goal is to help people reduce emissions, it’s not just about equipment. Sometimes it’s about the way regulations define how efficient a guy can be 

in his operation. 

These are the kind of questions that you can bring up in a good public process 

on the waterfront. If you ask people first, you might get some good options on the 

table for dealing with this carbon problem. Should the government help people invest to become more fuel-efficient? How much? What are the best ways to do it? 

An Independent Process 

Getting scientists and fishermen to work together isn’t always easy, as you know. 

It takes a lot of skill, communications expertise, and a pretty good understanding 

of how to herd cats. 

I think it would be good to do this through an independent organization instead 

of a Federal agency. Getting the right outfit to put all this together is important. 

It’s probably going to vary from one area of the country to another. In some places, 

like in the Gulf of Mexico where I’m from, the Sea Grant programs are good at creating ways for scientists and the user groups to work together. In some places, the 

best organizers for this might be fishing associations, or really well respected nonprofit groups or university people who can build a trust between the fishing communities and the scientific community. 

Some of this is already going on. The oyster growers, Sea Grant, some of the fishing groups are working with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, other groups 

and universities and so on. They have been putting together some regional workshops about acidification. It’s a good model. 

User Advisory Group 

It would also be good to find some smart fishing, aquaculture, and diving leaders 

and form a user advisory group to consult with the scientists about the research and 

monitoring on acidification. 

Oil Industry Should Help Pay 

Down on the Gulf coast before the oil spill, it was hard to believe we could have 

such incredible consequences. Now we know, and we’ve begun to push BP to pick 

up the tab for the cleanup and for research and monitoring so we can understand 

what the spill is doing to sea life and to the ocean’s chemistry. 

Maybe the oil industry should do more. If you’re going to have some public participation, you could ask people if they think the oil business should pay for a lot of 

the science to understand what all that carbon does to the ocean. Maybe the oil industry should be picking up their fair share of the long-term research and monitoring costs, not just for spills but to show the effects of all the carbon emissions 

that get into the sea. I saw a report that says oil and gas are responsible for about 

half of all the carbon dioxide produced by the world’s energy economy. (http:// 

www.eia.doe.gov/.../emissions.pdf). So maybe they should pay for half the science 

on this even though these cost will probably be passed on to the consumer. Senator 

Snowe, I know that you’ve been pushing to create an ocean endowment for marine 

research. I think if you had a string of meetings around the coasts you might find 

a lot of support for making the oil companies pay their fair share. 

Once again, thanks for your leadership on this issue, Senator Snowe. It means 

a lot to those of us who make our living fishing. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE TO

JAMES P. BARRY, PH.D. 

Question 1. A recent study published in the journal of the Geological Society of 

America, found that when 18 different types of marine organisms were exposed to 

seawater with four different levels of partial pressure of carbon dioxide the calcification rates of those organisms did not all respond the same way. In fact, three species had their highest calcification rates at the highest level of CO2: species of crabs, 

lobsters, and shrimps. What does this study tell you about the ability of some species to adapt to or perhaps even be genetically predisposed to thrive in oceans that 

experience higher degrees of acidity? 

Answer. The recent paper by Justin Ries (Ries et al., 2009) demonstrated that calcification rates among 18 marine organisms responded in different ways to simulated ocean acidification. While it is widely expected that calcification rates of maVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 May 06, 2011 Jkt 066170 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\66170.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
66 

rine organisms would decrease in more acidic waters with low saturation states for 

calcium carbonate, Dr. Ries found that some organisms studied increased their production of calcium carbonate skeletal material under even very high simulated atmospheric CO2 levels. In particular, the crustaceans studied (crab, lobster, shrimp) 

increased skeletal production as the acidity of waters was increased, while most in 

most other species, calcification declined. 

What does this tell us about the effects that future ocean acidification might have 

on these animals or on marine ecosystems in general? First, let’s consider what 

changes in calcification may mean for the lives of these animals. To be successful, 

organisms must survive, grow, and reproduce. For organisms forming calcium carbonate skeletons or shells, calcification is one of many important processes that contribute to successful growth, survival, and reproduction. As Dr. Ries notes, we do 

not know how ocean acidification waters might have affected physiological processes 

other than calcification in these organisms, or how lifelong immersion in acidified 

waters would affect their growth, survival, and successful reproduction. This is a 

critical observation because calcification alone may not be a good indicator of success. The exact mechanisms of calcification are not understood for all organisms, but 

research to date indicates that forming calcium carbonate in acidic waters is energetically more costly for organisms than in normal seawater. In a sense this is saying, ‘‘There is no free lunch.’’ If it is costs (energetically) more to make either the 

same or a larger skeleton in acidified waters, where does the extra energy come 

from? The crustaceans studied by Ries may have had plenty of extra energy available (food) to support the extra cost of calcification. Could animals in the wild respond similarly? Will they be able to simply feed more to compensate for the presumed higher costs of shell formation in more acidic waters, or might there be energetic tradeoffs? For example, would they grow more slowly or produce fewer young 

to support high skeletal growth? 

Crustaceans are also very different physiologically than many of the other organisms studied and Dr. Ries’ results pose several questions concerning factors influencing growth and shell formation in these animals. Crustaceans increase in size 

by molting (shedding their shell) periodically, since they cannot make their shells 

larger once it is formed. Molting involves very complex changes in hormonal and 

internal chemistry that may actually favor larger new shells during molting in 

acidified waters. As they begin to molt, crabs inflate their bodies with water as 

much as possible, to maximize their size while the new shell is hardening (calcifying). This hardening process occurs over days. One the new shell is formed, tissue 

grows in slowly to fill the now larger shell, followed by another molt cycle. Could 

higher acidity slow the process of calcification during molting, allowing the animals 

to inflate to a greater size before hardening occurs? Does the larger shell also allow 

more rapid tissue growth leading to faster growth rates and larger individuals? 

At this point, we do not know how immersion in acidified waters will affect the 

lifelong survival, growth, and reproduction of any of the species studied by Dr. Ries. 

His study provides some tantalizing evidence that there are likely to be winners and 

losers as ocean chemistry changes in the future. However, his work and that of others looking at the short-term physiological performance of animals under ocean 

acidification cannot tell the whole story. We need to understand how these physiological changes (and others) will affect lifelong performance for individuals, which 

in turn scales up to populations (population growth rates, reproductive rates, and 

productivity). Ultimately, changes in populations and species due to ocean acidification can affect entire ecosystems. These are the sorts of questions we need more information about to understand the comprehensive effects of ocean acidification. 

A second aspect of Dr. Ries’ study that is important to consider is how the differing effects of ocean acidification on many species will affect marine food webs and 

ecosystem processes. Let’s assume, perhaps incorrectly, that higher calcification is 

good and reduced calcification is bad, in terms of the growth and survival of animals. If so, then crustaceans will benefit (i.e., live longer, grow faster or larger), 

than most of the other animals studied, including most mollusks, which appear to 

be the losers in a high-CO2 ocean (based on calcification rates). These differences 

alone could lead to a disruption of marine food webs due to the reduction in some 

prey or predators and increase in others. If the abundance of important prey or 

predators changes greatly due to the direct physiological impacts of ocean acidification, this could indirectly affect many other species due to shifts in prey and predator abundance. Ultimately, changes in the performance of even a relatively small 

number of species due to ocean acidification could modify energy flow through marine food webs and drive important changes in the function of ecosystems. 

Dr. Everett testified at the Ocean Acidification Hearing, cited Dr. Ries’ paper as 

one piece of evidence to conclude that there is little concern that ocean acidification 

67 

is a serious problem. Dr. Ries, along with Dr. Iglesias-Rodriguez (whose paper 

(Iglesias-Rodriguez et al., 2008) was also cited by Dr. Everett as evidence to alleviate concern about ocean acidification) submitted a rebuttal to the Senate, objecting 

strong to what they felt was Dr. Everett’s serious misinterpretation of their studies. 

Question 1a. What do studies such as this one say about the future of the science 

of ocean acidification and where we should be focusing our efforts? 

Answer. Dr. Ries’ study is one of many excellent efforts to understand how ocean 

acidification will affect marine organisms and ecosystems. Society needs to know 

how changes in ocean chemistry due to ocean acidification will affect the growth and 

productivity of species, their interactions with other species, and other processes 

that may in turn affect a wide variety of ecosystem services we depend upon. Will 

fisheries production change, and if so, how? How will the biodiversity of marine ecosystems change, if at all? These are important but difficult questions that cannot 

be addressed easily. The scientific community has started where it can—what is the 

physiological response of organisms to future conditions for short periods? While 

these sorts of studies will continue to be important, we need to be able to scale up 

the results of these studies to the level of populations and ecosystems over longer 

time scales. How will ocean acidification affect the growth, survival, and reproductive rates of organisms over their entire lives? How will changes in individuals affect populations, in terms of productivity or resilience to disturbance? How will 

changes in individual species affect food webs from phytoplankton and algae at its 

base to top predators such as salmon and tuna? 

Scientific inquiry concerning all aspects of ocean acidification is developing rapidly. While we still need more studies just like Dr. Ries’, he and many others are 

already working to broaden the scope of these studies to address some of the more 

difficult longer-term and broader scale questions mentioned above. Scaling up from 

single organism studies to populations and ecosystems is difficult and will require 

innovative approaches and sustained effort. It is important to remember that our 

activities are changing the chemistry of the ocean faster and further than is thought 

to have occurred for many millions of years, with unknown consequences for ocean 

ecosystems. Just as we wouldn’t drive down a dark road without headlights, we 

should not forge ahead into a future within some insight into where we are going. 

References 

Ries, J. B., Cohen, A. L., McCorkle, D.C. 2009. Marine calcifiers exhibit mixed responses to CO2-induced ocean acidification. Geology 37(12): 1131–1134. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. ROGER F. WICKER TO

JAMES P. BARRY, PH.D. 

Question 1. You discussed in your testimony that research concerning ocean 

acidification’s impact on marine life is limited, particularly on populations and ecosystem dynamics. Can you please describe other areas of study which lack sound 

scientific research that would provide better understanding of this issue? 

Answer. The field of ocean acidification is quite new, and important questions concerning how populations and ecosystems will respond to future ocean acidification 

are the tough questions we face. These are difficult questions, but they lie at the 

heart of what society needs to know to plan for the future and adapt (as a society) 

to potential changes in resources and ecosystem services provided by the oceans. 

There are research programs underway now (European Project on OCean Acidification: EPOCA), Biological Impacts of Ocean ACIDification (BIOACID)—the German 

National program on ocean acidification, the UK Ocean Acidification program, and 

now the National Research Council has published its report on a U.S. National 

Strategy for Ocean Acidification Research. Each of these program outlines a series 

of efforts to investigate the effects of ocean acidification, often in combination with 

other climate-related stressors (warming, hypoxia), on marine organisms, including 

efforts to ‘‘scale-up’’ our understanding of individual effects to populations and ecosystems. 

Regarding ocean acidification research, we need to understand not only the effects 

on individual organisms, but also require a much broader understanding of future 

changes in ocean chemistry, from the scale of entire ocean basins to the apparently 

more complex coastal and inshore areas. Ocean chemistry in these areas are also 

affected greatly by other factors such as nutrient loading. Within this context of anthropogenic influences on ocean chemistry, we hope to gain an understanding of the 

effects of changing chemistry on ecosystems. Thus, ocean chemistry is one area 

where we require much more information before we can predict changes in marine 

populations and ecosystems. 

68 

Because society acts in many ways to affect ocean ecosystems (fishing, habitat 

degradation, pollution, climate change, ocean acidification (Jackson et al., 2001), it 

may be difficult to determine the relative roles of various anthropogenic influences 

and natural factors in the trajectories of marine ecosystems. Knowledge of the influence of each of these factors can be of obvious importance, and efforts to integrate 

information concerning the influence of human stresses on the performance of species from the level of individual physiology up to populations and eventually to ecosystems will be a key to predicting future ecosystem changes in response to our activities. 

Question 2. I understand it is estimated that average pH of ocean surface waters 

has decreased approximately 0.1 pH unit, from 8.2 to 8.1, since the beginning of the 

industrial revolution. Estuarine and tidal creek organisms, such as oysters, shrimp, 

and blue crabs in the Gulf and Southeast U.S. undergo daily shifts in pH that can 

range above 8.2 and down to 7.0. How does the current estimated shift in pH of 

0.1 impact these organisms given their adaptability to routine naturally occurring 

shifts in pH? 

Answer. This is an excellent question that relates to the potential effects of an 

anthropogenic shift in the mean pH of a natural ecosystem with a large range of 

natural variation in pH. The short answer is that we do not yet know if, or how 

much, the current shift in ocean pH (¥0.1 units in the open ocean) is affecting estuarine and tidal creek organisms. The long answer involves the details of carbonate 

chemistry in estuaries, any effects of fossil fuel CO2, and the physiological tolerance 

of estuarine species, including all life history phases (eggs, larvae, juveniles, adults), 

to variation in pH (and other potential stress factors). 

First, some background on estuarine pH variation. The pH in tidal creeks and estuaries is naturally variable due to diurnal and seasonal shifts in the balance between photosynthesis and respiration in the environment. During the day, especially 

during Spring and Summer, high rates of photosynthesis by plants, algae, and 

phytoplankton consume CO2 and produce O2. This typically dominates over respiration by all organisms, leading to higher O2 levels, lower CO2, and consequently, 

higher pH. During night (especially during Winter), photosynthesis effectively 

ceases and respiration dominates, consuming oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide, 

leading to low O2, high CO2, and low pH. The magnitude of these changes can be 

affected by many factors, such as the abundance of habitat with plants/algae versus 

mudflat and animal populations, as well as water depth and tidal flat exposure during night and day. This natural variability is modified by anthropogenic nutrient 

loading in the coastal zone (primarily agricultural runoff), which can influence the 

balance between photosynthesis and respiration—high nutrient loading often increases primary production, followed by higher net respiration rates, reduced oxygen 

levels (dead zones in some cases), where CO2 is high and pH is low (e.g., Diaz et 

al., 2008). 

Ocean acidification (OA) due to fossil fuel emissions can modify the natural pH 

variation in coastal and estuarine areas even further, either from the inflow of acidified waters into estuaries (Feely et al., 2010), or by direct CO2 influx into estuarine 

waters from the atmosphere. However, during periods when the CO2 levels in estuarine surface waters may be higher than the atmosphere, those waters would act as 

a source of CO2 to the atmosphere, rather than a sink—that is, high atmospheric 

levels from fossil fuel emissions would may not increase the CO2 levels of the estuary (and reduce pH further), but could impede CO2 efflux to the atmosphere. The 

bottom line for this discussion is that: (1) the pH of coastal and inshore waters is 

considerably more variable than found offshore, (2) several human activities appear 

to be affecting inshore pH, and (3) we do not yet have a good idea of how human 

influences including ocean acidification have or will affect the carbonate chemistry 

of estuarine areas. 

If estuarine pH is naturally variable, should we worry about the tolerance of estuarine organisms to what may be a relatively small additional pH shift? Common 

sense may say that since estuarine animals tolerate a wide pH range, then a 0.1 

unit shift overall shouldn’t make much of a difference. I expect that may be true 

for many organisms, particularly those with the physiological capacity to deal with 

CO2-related stresses (e.g., many fishes), but doesn’t tell the whole story. Because organisms tolerate the entire natural pH range does not mean that they can ‘‘perform’’ 

equally well throughout the natural range or slightly outside it (the new range with 

ocean acidification), particularly marine larvae or other vulnerable life history 

phases. While it is clear that organisms inhabiting estuarine habitats must be tolerant of the conditions, it is also likely that their performance—survival, growth, and 

reproduction—is not the same at all locations or times and probably varies with pH. 

Therefore, diurnal or seasonal changes in estuarine pH may be quite important. 

Particularly during the more acidic periods or locations where minerals used for 

69 

shell formation are low in abundance (low aragonite saturation state), it may be difficult or impossible for some species (e.g., clams, mussels, oysters) to create calcium 

carbonate skeletons. This appears to be particularly important for oyster larvae as 

shown in one recent study. Miller et al., (2009) measured the growth and survival 

of oyster larvae and modeled the carbonate chemistry of Chesapeake Bay, both 

under realistic current and future atmospheric CO2 levels, to estimate how future 

changes in atmospheric CO2 might affect oysters. Oyster larvae are expected to be 

more vulnerable than adults because their larval shells are made of aragonite, a 

form of calcium carbonate that is more easily dissolved than the calcite shells made 

by adult oysters. There is already a region in the upper bay where larval shells will 

dissolve (where the aragonite saturation is below 1.0), related to the temperature, 

salinity, and CO2 content of the water (Figure 1). Their conclusions are that as atmospheric CO2 rises, this zone will expand seaward, since the waters will become 

more and more acidic. Thus, although the Chesapeake, like many estuaries, has 

considerable pH variation, it appears that ongoing and future changes due to ocean 

acidification could have important effects. This process can be exacerbated by nutrient loading in the coastal zone, which can amplify the boom and bust cycle of estuarine primary production and organic consumption, leading to expanding zones of low 

oxygen or hypoxia and high acidity (low pH). 

We need much more research to understand how these and other organisms will 

respond to shifts in pH as we move toward the future. Perhaps a 0.1 unit shift in 

the mean pH of a highly variable system will be tolerable, at least in currently marginal areas, but the much larger pH changes expected by the end of this century 

may cross thresholds leading to important ecosystem changes. 

Figure 1. Map of Chesapeake Bay showing summertime salinity, and changes in the position 

of the aragonite saturation boundary—the point above (inshore from) which exposed aragonite 

(e.g., shells of oyster larvae) will dissolve. The boundary moves seaward with increasing atmospheric CO2 levels listed (280 to 800 ppm CO2). From Miller et al., (2009). 

Question 3. How does seawater acidification through run-off and pollutant input 

compare to that caused by atmospheric deposition? 

Answer. There are both similarities and differences between ocean acidification 

(changes in ocean chemistry driven by adding fossil fuel carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean) and acidification caused by coastal nutrient loading due to 

run-off and pollutant input. Here I consider pollutants as nutrient inputs (nitrogenous wastes and agricultural fertilizers) carried by rivers to the coastal ocean as 

well as nitrogenous aerosols deposited on the oceans from fossil fuel combustion 


422BARRQ1.eps
70 

(Figure 2; Doney 2010). Ocean acidification affects the carbonate chemistry of the 

ocean, increasing CO2 levels, leading to the formation of carbonic acid, which ultimately causes a rise in acidity (lower pH) and lower levels of carbonate ions—minerals used for the shells of many marine animals. This is a global phenomenon 

which occurs through most of the oceans, though in some regions where surface CO2

levels are naturally high, the oceans are a source of CO2, rather than a sink—there 

CO2 degasses from the surface ocean into the atmosphere. Coastal nutrient loading 

increases the productivity of phytoplankton and algae in surface waters, particularly 

in nutrient poor regions. As this ‘‘extra’’ organic material sinks to deeper waters, 

it is consumed and degraded, which consumes oxygen and produces respiratory carbon dioxide. Overall, this process has increased the production of organic material 

in the oceans, and reduced oxygen levels and acidifying deeper waters to some degree. Where coastal nutrient loading is fairly intensive, oxygen levels near the bottom can drop to zero or nearly so, with simultaneous acidification of those waters. 

This process continues to expand and is causing the development of ‘‘dead zones’’ 

at coastal regions around the globe (Figure 3; Diaz et al., 2008). 

Figure 2. Estimated deposition of anthropogenic reactive nitrogen to the ocean surface for 

oxidized forms (NOy), mainly from fossil fuel combustion sources, and reduced forms (NHx) primarily from agricultural sources (from Doney 2010). 

Figure 3. Global distribution of 400-plus systems reported to have eutrophication-associated 

dead zones. Their distribution matches the global human footprint in the Northern Hemisphere. 

Dead zones are only recently reported for the Southern Hemisphere. From Diaz et al., 2008. 

Unlike nutrient additions, ocean acidification does little to affect oxygen levels directly, though they may be affected by changes in the response of ecosystems. To 

date, nutrient loading is a more significant problem since it is driving oxygen levels 

to zero in areas, with important consequences for ecosystems (Diaz et al., 2008; 

Doney 2010). As we move through this century, both processes are expected to increase their ‘footprint’ on ocean ecosystems. 

Question 3a. Does this differ by region in the U.S.? 

Answer. Ocean acidification probably does not vary considerably among regions in 

the US, other than its potentially synergistic interaction with other factors (nutrient 

loading, warming). For example, along the Pacific Northwest, the upwelling of acidified waters affected by ocean acidification, coupled with nutrient loading, is causing 

very low pH waters in areas of Puget Sound and the local region, with potentially 


422BARRQ2.eps 422BARRQ3.eps
71 

important impacts on local ecosystems (Feely et al., 2008; Feely et al., 2010). Similar 

synergistic interactions among anthropogenic factors may also occur elsewhere, but 

may be milder than occurs in the already acidic, upwelled waters along the NW Pacific. 

Eutrophication due to the input of nutrients is most severe in more urbanized 

coastal areas and at the outputs of major rivers with carrying large nutrient loads 

to the ocean (e.g., Mississippi River). The eastern seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico 

coast have many more reports of hypoxic zones or events driven by nutrient loading. 

However, these events are increasing as well along the western U.S. coast. 

References 

Diaz, R. J. et al., 2008. Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine ecosystems. Science 321, 926. 

Feely, R. A. 2010. The combined effects of ocean acidification, mixing, and respiration on pH and carbonate saturation in an urbanized estuary. Est. Coastal, and 

Shelf Sci. 88: 442–449. 

Doney, S. C. 2010. The growing human footprint on coastal and open-ocean biogeochemistry. Science 328: 1512. 

Feely, R. A. et al., 2008. Evidence for upwelling of corrosive ‘‘acidified’’ water onto 

the continental shelf. Science 320: 1490. 

Feely, R. A. et al., 2010. The combined effects of ocean acidification, mixing, and 

respiration on pH and carbonate saturation in an urbanized estuary. Est. Coastal, 

and Shelf Sci., 88: 442–449. 

Jackson, J. B. C., et al., 2001. Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of 

coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 639. 

Miller, A. W., Reynolds, A. C., Sobrino, C., Riedel, G. F. 2009. Shellfish face uncertain future in high CO2 world: influence of acidification on oyster larvae calcification 

and growth in estuaries. PLOS One, 4(5): e5661. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE TO

DR. JOHN T. EVERETT

Question 1. A recent study published in the journal of the Geological Society of 

America, found that when 18 different types of marine organisms were exposed to 

seawater with four different levels of partial pressure of carbon dioxide the calcification rates of those organisms did not all respond the same way. In fact, three species had their highest calcification rates at the highest level of CO2: species of crabs, 

lobsters, and shrimps. What does this study tell you about the ability of some species to adapt to or perhaps even be genetically predisposed to thrive in oceans that 

experience higher degrees of acidity? 

Answer. This study tells us that we need to look carefully for the benefits just 

as we do for the harm from any change to the environment that concerns us. Since 

the crustaceans that did better with a higher CO2 environment are not substantially 

different than the krill and small shrimp that feed on algae, which themselves do 

better in a CO2-rich environment, we must be very cautious before we say that higher pH in the oceans will lead to the demise of all sea creatures. In terms of productivity, there could well be an increase, rather than decrease. Much of the coal and 

oil resources that we have available to us are the result of the tremendous productivity of the Earth during past times of high atmospheric CO2. 

Question 1a. What do studies such as this one say about the future of the science 

of ocean acidification and where we should be focusing our efforts? 

Answer. Our research should focus on the likely changes in ecology as a result 

of more acidic water. A strong component in that research should investigate how 

we can take advantage of the opportunities and also deal with the problems. Things 

will be different, neither necessarily worse nor better. We should be preparing ourselves to make the most out of whatever conditions come to be—ready to take advantage of the opportunities and prepare for any disadvantages. 

Question 2. Your testimony suggests a high degree of uncertainty remains even 

in what other scientists consider to be the relatively undisputable fact that the 

chemistry of our oceans is changing. Even the NRC report unequivocally asserted 

that the chemical changes are ‘‘well understood.’’ You have also asserted that perhaps the terminology used to describe this problem—acidification—is inaccurate and 

intended to directly influence public opinion and draw attention to the issue. Your 

conclusion is that we should continue to carry out research on ocean acidification, 

but not take drastic action to address it. In your opinion, are the actions taken to 

date by NOAA and the scientific community appropriate, or should we scale back 

our efforts to investigate this potential area of concern? 

72 

Answer. Since the American public has been targeted with a great deal of fear 

mongering, it behooves us to determine whether there is really a problem or not. 

I think that the amount of funding provided by the Congress is about right. However, as I indicated above, I believe that we should be directing a reasonable amount 

of the total funding toward seeking out the opportunities and preparing for the negatives. 

Question 2a. What degree of certainty in the research is sufficient to dictate additional actions, either regulatory or otherwise, to address ocean acidification as a real 

problem? 

Answer. I do not have a problem with things that are different, provided that I 

am prepared for these changes and they are not harmful overall. I believe that 

under extreme ocean acidification things will be different, but not worse, for us and 

for the animals near the top of the ocean food chain. Under the relatively small 

amounts of being discussed, I don’t see significant threat, nor even any measurable 

change. I am not an advocate of further regulations, particularly any that make our 

goods and services non competitive in the global market. 

Question 2b. Should we even bother pursuing mitigation measures at this time? 

Answer. We should not be pursuing mitigation measures if they place our country 

at a disadvantage relative to other countries with whom we compete in the world 

economy. 

I wish to make it clear that I am addressing, with respect to this question and 

the others, only increases of CO2 in the atmosphere and ocean. If the CO2 comes 

with increases in heavy metals and other toxic elements, there is much more reason 

for concern. We and other nations of the Earth must work together to reduce the 

amount of harmful pollution reaching the oceans. I don’t believe that CO2 is harmful 

overall at the levels under discussion and should not be used as an excuse to stop 

the use of hydrocarbon-based fuels. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. ROGER F. WICKER TO

DR. JOHN T. EVERETT

Question 1. You mention in your testimony that research concerning broad impacts of ocean acidification on marine life is limited. Can you please describe what 

areas of study lack sound scientific research that would provide better understanding of this issue? 

Answer. There is a lot of good research that is being conducted. A major problem 

is that there also is a lot of bad research being conducted. Much of the research 

seems to be aimed at proving that ocean acidification is bad. This is evidenced by 

the use of hydrochloric and sulfuric acid (to simulate CO2), by not allowing creatures 

time to adapt to major increases, by using unrealistically high levels, and in the 

narrative justification for the research, among other things. There is rarely an objective observation of the changes, only a search for the negatives. This makes it unlikely that positive effects will be observed and reported. Positives cannot be found 

when no one is searching for them as carefully as they are for the damage. To make 

matters worse, positives are not newsworthy and are not reported in the press 

whereas the negatives often make headlines, causing a distortion of the facts in the 

minds of the citizens. 

The research items that intrigue me are finding an explanation for how we might 

actually get at the asserted damages from relatively miniscule PH changes. For example, how can mollusk larvae be damaged by a small change in acidification when 

their cousins that live in fresh water do just fine under actually acidic waters that 

are hundreds or thousands of times more acidic than the oceans will ever be? How 

can fisheries be destroyed by pH levels that are no worse than in upwelling regions 

that are the most productive areas for marine life of all kinds? 

I would like to see more research that addresses true understanding rather than 

the fulfillment of an activist agenda of any flavor. It is difficult for scientists, no 

matter how objective, to receive funding for such research from philanthropic organizations and government agencies. 

Question 2. There have been claims that oyster hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest have experienced effects of lower pH seawater on developing larvae stocks. 

Was this a result of upwelling cold deep water off the coast of Oregon and Washington? 

Answer. The conjecture among many scientists not participating in the work is 

that any changes in pH of the level observed would have to be due to upwelling 

waters that moved into the area, or by rain, or by pollution. I do not have enough 

information to form an opinion of my own. 

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Question 3. Have similar acidification events occurred in other areas of upwelling 

around the world? In other words, is this a common event or isolated incident? 

Answer. If a lowered pH was in fact the root cause of oyster larvae mortalities, 

it may well happen in other parts of the world. However the NW area in question 

is more susceptible to a deep water upwelling event than, say the Chesapeake Bay, 

where it would be virtually impossible from an oceanographic standpoint. In most 

areas of the world, the pH of the water is not routinely measured and would not 

likely be suspected if there were a mortality event of larvae or other organisms. 

Question 4. What scientific evidence exists that suggests similar acidification 

events occurring in other regions of the U.S. are significantly impacting wildlife? 

Answer. Much of the most thorough research on acidification occurred during the 

scare over acid rain a few decades ago. That research indicated that the makeup 

of the ecology could be quite different under acidic conditions that were hundreds 

of times more acidic than the changes we’re talking about for the oceans. Levels 

practically reached the acidity of vinegar before life was severely compromised. 

Again, ecology was very different but the overall production stayed quite constant 

at any reasonable pH level. 

The importance of this is when we are using the harm to marine mammals and 

fisheries as a research or mitigation justification. There will still be about the same 

amount of food available for the those animals even if it is a different form of a species or in fact a different species. 

Question 5. What proportion of CO2 in upwelled ocean water can be attributed to 

deposition from the atmosphere? What proportion can be attributed to biological 

processes? 

Answer. Near the surface a high proportion of the CO2 can be from the atmosphere because the exchange of gases is constant. However well below the surface, 

where the sunlight is dim or nonexistent, all the animals and bacteria are consuming oxygen and giving up CO2 faster than algae and plants can convert it into 

oxygen. This and other processes cause the deep water to become high in CO2 and 

thus more acidic. When the deep water rises to the surface as part of an upwelling 

current, it is often at a pH that is lower than is contemplated in the global warming 

scenarios for the future. 

Question 6. Since ocean circulation and upwelling events occur on a global basis, 

what role do other countries play in contributing CO2 to waters that impact the 

coastline of the United States? 

Answer. All nations of the world contribute to the CO2 reaching the coastal waters 

of the United States. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere that is the product of 

humans is contributed by each nation in proportion to its emissions. There are no 

boundaries slowing the mixing of CO2 and it occurs rapidly and quite thoroughly. 

The CO2 coming from the Chinese, Australian and American coal that is being 

burned in China has no signature different from used that in Australia or the US, 

or from any other country. It is also not generally distinguishable from that emitted 

by humans and other animals or volcanoes. 

Question 7. How does lowering of seawater alkalinity through run-off and pollutant input compare to that caused by atmospheric deposition? 

Answer. For the global ocean, deposition would be the larger contributor. However, in a localized area, such as a bay, pollution and rainwater, whether from run 

off or from rain falling on the water, would be the more important source. 

Question 7a. Does this differ by region in the U.S.? 

Answer. Yes, it varies by location because pollution and runoff vary, as does their 

mixing with the ocean water depending on whether they flow into a narrow bay or 

into a rapidly moving ocean current. 

Question 8. Is there scientific research showing that ocean acidification may be 

caused by factors other than atmospheric CO2, such as nutrient loading, pollution, 

or habitat degradation? 

Answer. Yes, research shows that pH can be changed in a number of ways, but 

generally not at the global level. Research of the types presented, has been more 

localized such as in harbors, bays, and rivers. It would be very difficult to demonstrate that any of these factors were at play in the ocean as a whole. 

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