WALPOLE, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Over ninety percent of Maine's oyster harvest comes from the Damariscotta River.
Mook Sea Farm in Walpole has been operating along the river for over thirty years and owner Bill Mook is worried about the impact of ocean acidification on his crop.
Too much acid in the water hurts the ability of the oyster to grow its shell. That leads to a loss in production and profits.
Mook has teamed up with the University of New Hampshire on a monitoring project.
The black box system was created by a team from UNH that includes Dr. Joe Salisbury, a chemical oceanographer.
The system measures temperature, salinity, oxygen and carbon dioxide and produces data every ten seconds.
That allows Mook to closely monitor the water coming into his hatchery and treat it to optimize growing conditions.
"It's like taking a Tums, we put an antacid into the water," said Bill Mook.
"We were able to essentially reverse the problems we were having and improve them beyond what we had ever experienced."
Dr. Salisbury at UNH says, "We are using our academic knowledge to help an industry that is growing rapidly as we degrade the environment across the planet."
UNH is also using the black box system at an oyster farm in Virginia.