Can shellfish help reverse ocean acidification?

Ocean acidification is eroding shellfish survival rates across New England, and researchers are testing whether adding alkaline compounds to seawater could reverse the trend by boosting the ocean's carbon absorption capacity. Lobster larvae exposed to acidified conditions show reduced calcification and survival – a direct threat to an industry worth hundreds of millions annually to the US Northeast.

The science is straightforward: as seawater absorbs atmospheric CO2, it becomes more acidic, making it harder for crustaceans and molluscs to build and maintain shells. Trials are now underway to determine whether seeding seawater with alkalinity – a process called ocean alkalinity enhancement – can mitigate this without damaging the broader ecosystem.

But funding constraints are narrowing the window for answers. The Trump administration's halt to climate research funding threatens to starve these projects at a critical moment. Researchers at institutions across Maine and Massachusetts have already scaled back investigations into both the efficacy and potential side-effects of alkalinity enhancement on local marine populations.

This matters beyond lobster economics. If alkalinity enhancement works, it could become a tool for protecting fisheries in other regions facing similar acidification pressures – from oyster beds in the Pacific Northwest to scallop grounds off the UK. The catch: we don't yet know the long-term ecological costs of deliberately altering ocean chemistry at scale, nor whether the approach can meaningfully offset continued CO2 emissions rather than substitute for emissions cuts. Will New England's fishery become a testing ground for ocean geoengineering – or a cautionary tale about rushing to market solutions for problems that demand systemic change?

Lobsters and acidic seas: can shellfish help neutralise one of the greatest threats to the ocean?

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