Oil leaking from the BP well may threaten wildlife and seafood production, write Aaron Kuriloffand Jim Polson
SHRIMP BOATS headed to fishing grounds east of the Mississippi river on Thursday after Louisiana opened an early season to bring in as much harvest as possible before oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill washes ashore.
Mike Voisin, who owns Houma-based Motivatit Seafood, said the state’s move would help offset potential losses if oil forced the closure of fishing grounds. “Maybe before it hits inshore there can be a week or two of harvest and we’ll get something out.”
Billions of dollars generated by outdoor sports, commercial fishing and beach tourism along the Gulf of Mexico coast are at risk if crude oil leaking from a damaged well off the coast of Louisiana washes aground.
BP, which owns the well, says it is leaking five times faster than previously thought, spewing 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf.
The spill may threaten wildlife and seafood production in a state known as “Sportsman’s Paradise”, as well as in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas, said Robert Shipp, head of the marine sciences department at the University of South Alabama.
“If this thing really gets to the coast, to those sugar-white beaches from Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Panama City, Florida, that would be just a horrible disaster,” Prof Shipp said.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expected winds to begin pushing oil ashore in Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi river as soon as yesterday evening.
Shrimpers filed a suit against BP, saying contamination from the spill has caused and will continue to cause loss of revenue.
The suit is seeking class action, or group, status to represent all residents who live in or derive income from the coastal areas of Louisiana and would suffer losses.
The magnitude of the problem for fish and wildlife depended on how long the well continued to leak oil and where and when it touches land, said Karen Foote, marine fisheries division administrator for the Louisiana wildlife and fisheries department. Ms Foote said marshes may suffer long-term damage from the oil spill.
The Louisiana coast includes three million acres of wetlands that serve as a nursery for game fish such as speckled trout and red drum and are currently nurturing the brown shrimp crop to be harvested by the state’s fishing fleet.
Louisiana is the largest seafood producer in the lower 48 states, with annual retail sales of about $1.8 billion (€1.35 billion), according to state data.
Recreational fishing generates about $1 billion in retail sales a year, according to the state.
“Our marshes are nurseries and if those marshes are impacted, those juveniles that are dependent on feeding in those marshes will be affected too,” said Ms Foote.
Those species include shrimp, oysters, crab, menhaden and game fish that have made Louisiana a destination for seafood lovers, commercial harvesters and anglers, said Mark Schexnayder, regional coastal adviser for Louisiana State University’s agricultural centre.
The marshes are also home to five million migratory birds, along with alligators, turtles and other species.
Louisiana’s marshy coastline extends 24,000km (15,000 miles), according to the state’s department of natural resources.
BP chief operating officer for exploration and production Doug Suttles said BP was trying to protect areas most sensitive to oiling, from the delta to Mobile Bay, Alabama. – (Bloomberg)