Olympia, WA – The public is invited to attend the next meeting of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification.

The meeting is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Aug. 8 at NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Building 3 in Seattle. Here are the directions (http://pmel.noaa.gov/persons/visitor-info.shtml).

The meeting will also be broadcast by webinar so people may join online.
Panel members will continue discussing and prioritizing their final recommendations, which are scheduled to be released Oct. 1.

Washington’s shellfish growers are seeing an increase in the deaths of juvenile shellfish larvae, which has been linked to acidic marine waters.

In December 2011, Washington became the first state in the nation to appoint a panel of leading science and policy experts to respond to this ocean health issue, to expand Washington’s shellfish resources, to promote clean-water commerce, and to create more family-wage jobs dependent on healthy marine waters in our state.

Washington shellfish growers directly and indirectly employ more than 3,200 people and provide an estimated total economic contribution of $270 million per year.

Find a copy of the meeting materials, learn how to join the webinar and read more about the panel and its findings online (www.ecy.wa.gov/water/marine/oceanacidification.html).

Special note for meeting attendees: Please allow extra time to pass through for security. All meeting attendees will need to stop at the guardhouse and produce identification. If you are a member of the public and plan to attend the meeting, you must email Meg Chadsey with your name as it appears on your ID by 5 p.m. on August 7 to be added to the list for the security gatehouse.

David Haviland, KBKW, 3 August 2012. Web site.