An understanding of biomineralisation pathways is key to predict climate change impact on aquaculture.

The environment is changing as increasing carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. The atmosphere is warming and the oceans are absorbing more carbon dioxide and becoming more acidic. This reduction in ocean pH is known as ocean acidification. Calcium carbonate is abundant in the oceans as organisms such as shellfish produce protective shell structures. The amount of carbonate available in the oceans under ocean acidification will be reduced, limiting the ability of organisms to produce protective shells. This project will investigate the influence of ocean acidification and warming on the ability of three shellfish species to produce protective shells. Commercially available shellfish will be cultured under future ocean acidification and warming conditions in a laboratory. Shells will be tested for physical and material properties to understand the vulnerability of shells to fracture under changing environments and predation. This project will determine how molluscs produce their calcium carbonate shells, identifying the carbon source and route for shell production under changing climates. This knowledge will enable accurate predictions of the vulnerability of aquaculture to ocean acidification and warming. Feeding experiments and harvesting protocols will be developed to alleviate potential damage to shells during aquaculture for a more resilient, sustainable and more economical shellfish culture.

The stakeholders of this project include the scientific community, businesses such as Loch Fyne Oysters, Environmental Agencies such as Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Government policy makers and members of the public including young people. The project has the potential to contribute to the nation's health by addressing the impact of climate change on shellfish culture environments, this is of particular importance to Environmental Agencies such as SEPA, who has a statutory duty under legislation to maintain good water quality. Mussel and oyster samples will be obtained locally from Scottish shellfish farms (Loch Fyne Oysters Ltd); results will be presented via meetings to Loch Fyne Oysters and disseminated across employees through their quarterly newsletter. This will communicate potential future issues in relation to culture of calcifying organisms under future ocean acidification. This has the potential therefore to impact the nation's wealth as shellfish culture of mussels provides a food resource and is therefore of economic importance to the nation. Knowledge transfer will be achieved as data is disseminated across the scientific community through publication in high impact journals and presentations at international conferences. The project also aims to increase the effectiveness of public services and policy by creating and communicating summaries of findings with regards to ocean acidification impact on shellfish in plain non-scientific language for government briefings. These will be communicated through government meetings with SF and members of Marine Scotland. The public and Scottish Tourism Board will benefit from the smart phone App aimed at transferring knowledge of the climate impact on shellfish populations in Scotland. This will be primarily available on the Scottish tourism website and potentially linked in with Loch Fyne Oysters Ltd to develop a means of show casing shellfish farms and restaurants along the West Coast of Scotland. The project will therefore add to the nations economic performance providing public services to increase tourism. The public will be able to access information regarding marine shellfish inhabiting Scotland's Lochs as they walk around Scotland's coastlines. There will be a link to the project website and twitter feed. Restaurants/ shellfish farms will be accessible for interested tourists. Ideas will be developed by SF, the application of the smart phone app will be outsourced. Dr Susan Fitzer will approach the Scottish tourism board through the University of Glasgow to coordinate ideas and development. Knowledge exchange will occur through secondary school workshops on ocean acidification. Workshops will be organised with Castlemilk High School in Glasgow to develop a secondary school video produced by the school students which can be disseminated through TWIG video access site through Education Scotland. Ocean acidification is now within the curriculum in Chemistry at secondary school levels of teaching, this will provide a resource for teachers. Public outreach will also be achieved through attendance and presentation of findings at the Glasgow Science Festival. These activities aim to enhance the quality of life and creative output through the project. Knowledge transfer will occur through social media using a twitter live feed, updated by Dr Susan Fitzer on a weekly basis. A project website linked into the University of Glasgow and to the twitter feed will also be updated twice monthly by Susan Fitzer.