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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 10
June 2010
BP oil calamity poses unknowns for Northeast
One month after the shocking explosion that resulted in the loss of 11 lives and the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, oil was still surging into the Gulf of Mexico. Despite billions of dollars spent, countless man-hours expended, and frantic efforts to stem the flow and clean the mess, this terrible disaster continued to intensify in late May.
Major oil spills are devastating for the environment, wildlife, and people. The commercial fishing industry is always among the groups hit first and hardest, and it didn’t take long for the National Marine Fisheries Service to initiate the first fishing closure.
Almost immediately, with the exception of those employed on an ad hoc basis by British Petroleum (BP), the oil company responsible for the catastrophe and the cleanup, fishermen, seafood processing plant workers, and people in support businesses were thrown out of work. Hundreds more continued to join their ranks as closures persisted and expanded.
But this obvious human tragedy is only the beginning of this still-unfolding calamity. The Gulf of Mexico is a vital spawning ground for bluefin tuna. It is critical habitat for endangered whales and sea turtles. It is traditional fishing grounds for commercially important fish, oysters, shrimp, and other shellfish. It is home to many vulnerable marine-dependent species.
And anything that impacts bluefin, turtles, marine mammals, shellfish, or fish eventually results in restrictions on commercial fishermen, even when overfishing has nothing to do with creating the problem.
Additionally, tourists are canceling hotel reservations and air travel to the Gulf coast out of fear that their vacations will be ruined by oiled beaches, even when that might not be the case. It will be a miracle if the Gulf seafood industry escapes being painted by a similar brush as fears grow over contamination, even as the federal government is initiating stepped-up testing. Consumer perception of Gulf seafood may be damaged for decades.
All of this may be headed here, too.
While the ocean is a big place and has the capacity to forgive enormous environmental insult, oceanographers and industry observers were watching with alarm as the steady flow of oil from under the sea floor streamed towards the Gulf’s Loop Current. From there, it was ripe to be swept out of the Gulf, into the Gulf Stream, and north.
Weather conditions will play a major role in what happens next. Oil could be blown up onto East Coast beaches. Oil could settle onto Georges Bank. No one knows.
And, frankly, that’s the only thing that is certain about this situation – no one knows much of anything at all, not about: how much oil has been released; the rate of the ongoing release; when and how the gusher will be capped; the ultimate extent of contamination of beaches and fragile marshlands; the impact on local economies; the long-term effects on fish populations; how far and wide the oil will travel; how long the recovery will take; or even if recovery is possible in our lifetimes.
The painful truth is that all of the conservation and management efforts of the last 25 years hang in the balance. Without a quick and extraordinarily effective resolution, this disaster may be our greatest setback to date. /cfn/
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