Emma Hodgson, a Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University, and her colleagues are making big strides in piecing together the ocean acidification puzzle along the US west coast for those that make decisions around this ocean change. As part of her doctoral research at the University of Washington, Hodgson worked with a team to design modeling tools that create a better picture of ocean acidification impacts on fisheries catches, economies, and communities in this US region.
After years of work the group of modelers, ecologists, and oceanographers can project changes to fisheries catches, and how they will ripple into ports and economies along the US West Coast. There are many pieces to this puzzle; from who’s eating whom in the marine food web, to which species are landed by which vessels. By layering this information atop how various species may respond to acidification – an increase in carbon dioxide and acidity in our ocean – this team can now provide insight into potential impacts on a scale that informs local and regional decisions.
NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, 13 June 2022. Article.
