Dave Nikleva walks the shoreline of a Cortes Island beach nudging oysters with the toe of his boot.
鈥淒ead. Dead. Dead,鈥� Nikleva mutters as he goes along.
The shellfish farmer stoops over to pick up one bigger specimen for inspection before tossing it back on the beach.
The stench along this stretch of Gorge Harbour at low tide is tremendous. But it was even worse two weeks ago when a record-breaking heat wave cooked thousands upon thousands of oysters in their shells in the final days of June.
鈥淭hey still had meat in them then,鈥� Nikleva said.
A perfect storm of extreme heat paired with extra-low midday tides left Nikleva鈥檚 south-facing oyster lease baking in the sun for six hours at a time.
Now many of the feathery shells of the baby spats and small to medium oysters are empty having already been picked clean by crabs and gulls.
But some of the bigger oysters are still dying. Shells still mostly closed, they gush water and putrid goop when disturbed.
Nikleva鈥檚 oysters are just a fraction of the one billion marine intertidal animals that likely perished on the shores of the Salish Sea during the extreme heat event.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything like it,鈥� said Nikleva, who has been producing oysters and clams for 35 years.
Oyster farmers on the front line of climate change
B.C.鈥檚 shellfish producers have been struggling with the slow burn of climate change for years as warming waters spur harmful bacteria and ocean acidification, among other changes, in the marine ecosystem.
鈥淚f you went back 20 years ago and told farmers they were going to experience 20 per cent mortality, they would have thought that was crazy,鈥� said Jim Russell, executive director of the BC Shellfish Growers Association.
鈥淏ut now that's kind of normal. And this normal keeps changing.鈥�
But the record-breaking heat saw some areas on the typically temperate coast reach close to 40 C 鈥� double the seasonal average. And it led to some catastrophic losses for many shellfish farmers.
But those losses appear to be varied, depending on local conditions, said Russell, adding a full understanding of where and who suffered the greatest hits won鈥檛 be known for another couple of weeks.
In addition to the damages reported in Gorge Harbour, the hub of shellfish aquaculture on Cortes, there appears to be some big losses in Baynes Sound next to Denman Island and in Okeover Inlet on B.C.鈥檚 mainland.
It鈥檚 concerning since Baynes Sound produces more than 50 per cent of the shellfish coming out of B.C., Russell said.
And Okeover Inlet is reportedly the hardest hit, with some farmers with beach leases reporting up to 100 per cent mortality.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite devastating for some of the farmers that have talked to me.鈥�
Shellfish producers already battered by COVID-19
B.C. produced 9,684 tonnes of shellfish, valued at 27 million, in 2019. Oysters alone generate 56 per cent of that revenue.
The West Coast is big nationally, too, growing over half of Canada鈥檚 oysters and clams.
It remains to be seen how badly the sector will be impacted by the heat wave, Russell said.
But the nasty irony is that shellfish farmers had already been hobbled by COVID-19, which shuttered restaurants and export markets last year.
Many producers left last year鈥檚 oysters stockpiled on their beach to sell when markets improved as the pandemic lifted, Russell said.
Now, some farmers will take a double hit.
Plus, it takes two or three years to raise an oyster to market size.
鈥淚t鈥檚 devastating when you consider the crop cycle, and they鈥檝e lost all three years,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a major setback.鈥�
After preliminary surveys, Nikleva figures he has seen at least a 30 per cent die-off along his seven-acre stretch of beach. And mortality among the prized, smaller half-shell oysters destined for restaurants appears even greater.
Nikleva lets out a sarcastic snort when asked if there are any government programs to help oyster farmers weather crop disasters.
He figures he鈥檒l lose a third of his income off this beach for the next three years.
Yet, he considers himself somewhat fortunate since not all his shoreline oyster sites are directly exposed to the sun, and his deep-water oysters, growing on trays suspended from rafts, are OK.
Despite his losses, Nikleva is glad the heat wave and its dire impacts have truly seized the wider public鈥檚 attention at last.
鈥淚鈥檓 glad we鈥檙e talking about climate change,鈥� he said, 鈥淲e鈥檝e been breaking heat records year after year for decades. It鈥檚 happening, and we鈥檙e not immune.鈥�
All food producers are struggling to adapt to the changing climate, he said.
If faced with low tides and extreme heat again, Nikleva is considering using a pump and to spray seawater over the oysters to cool them. Or experiment with mesh pouches or bags for the oysters to see if they provide extra shade and retain some pooled water.
Scientists are also at work to mitigate the impacts of climate change on the shellfish industry.
Ocean acidification, which occurs as increasing carbon in the atmosphere gets absorbed by the ocean, poses a problem for shellfish, said Timothy Green, a researcher at Vancouver Island University (VIU).
Acidification drops the levels of calcium carbonate in the water that baby oysters and other shellfish need to build their shells.
Oysters are also vulnerable to increased levels of bacteria and new pathogens brought about by warming oceans and global transport, said Green, a Canada Research Chair in shellfish health and genomics.
Studying the genetics of shellfish adaptation to climate stressors and disease, Green is running a selective breeding program to make the Pacific oyster more resilient.
Three years into the project, Green hopes he鈥檒l see some results at the five- and 10-year mark.
The research team is also experimenting to see if various types of farming practices can drop the mortality rates associated with climate change.
鈥淲e need to come up with solutions,鈥� Green said.
鈥淚t hurts that we can't help industry and say, 'here鈥檚 the solution' just yet.
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 the end goal.鈥�
