Conservation & Environment

GRAND ISLE, La.—The astonishing news that the oil leak at the bottom of the sea may be twice as big as previously thought could have major repercussions for both the environment and BP's financial health, killing more marine life and dramatically increasing the amount the company must pay in fines and damages.

Scientists now say the blown-out well could have been spewing as much as 2 million gallons of crude a day before a cut-and-cap maneuver started capturing some of the flow, meaning more than 100 million gallons may have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico since the start of the disaster in April. That is more than nine times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, previously the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The larger estimates, while still preliminary and considered a worst-case scenario, could contribute to breathtaking liabilities against BP. Penalties can be levied against the company under a variety of environmental protection laws, including fines of up to $1,100 under the Clean Water Act for each barrel of oil spilled.

Read the complete story at The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The continued fouling of the Gulf of Mexico with crude oil from the wreckage of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig could not have occurred at a worse place or time for the future of the bluefin tuna and other large migratory species, the locally-based director of the Large Pelagics Research Center said Thursday.

In the spring, the Gulf becomes a nursery for bluefin, big eye and yellowfin tuna and swordfish too, explained marine biologist and center director Molly Lutcavage, who is working out of Gloucester.

"The Gulf is the major nursery and so this couldn't have been worse," she said in an interview.

Lutcavage said new research into the migratory patterns of the bluefin — which arrive in waters off Gloucester during the summer and is fished recreationally and commercially through the fall — suggests the species may breed in areas in addition to the Gulf, or may not breed annually.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A research team said it had found evidence of dead zones being drained of life-giving oxygen deep in the Gulf of Mexico, as scientists on Tuesday reported new details of vast submerged clouds of oil and natural gas billowing from a well on the sea floor.

Also on Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration acknowledged the existence of swathes of underwater oil many miles from the wellhead, which has been spewing oil since April 20. For weeks, federal scientists at the agency had discounted reports of subsurface plumes.

The agency's chief administrator, Jane Lubchenco, said Tuesday, "NOAA is confirming the presence of very low concentrations of subsurface oil."

Read the complete story at The Wall Street Journal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Researchers have confirmed that two large plumes in the Gulf of Mexico consist, as suspected, of dissolved hydrocarbons. Early analyses of samples from recent cruises have found hydrocarbons up to 78 kilometers from the leaking well, as well as encouraging signs that microbes are already degrading components of the oil. Although Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), describes the concentrations as "very low," she and other researchers caution that there still may be ecological impacts.

One cruise was led by Ernst Peebles, a biological oceanographer at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. He and colleagues aboard the Weatherbird II took samples in late May to the north of the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. Yesterday, they described at a news conference finding hydrocarbons in two layers (pdf), one 400 meters deep and another between 1000 and 1400 meters deep. The compounds were present in both layers at several hundred parts per billion.

Peebles's team gave portions of the water samples to NOAA, which ran its own tests. NOAA released an analysis yesterday, which describes similar concentrations.

The report notes that the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons tested were all below ecotoxicological benchmarks. "That does not mean [the oil] doesn’t have significant impact," Lubchenco said at a press conference yesterday. "The impact that it has we remain to understand."

Read the complete story at Science Magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

West Marine is offering customers the opportunity to be an "Ocean Hero" and support World Oceans Day on June 9th, with sales of "No Fish, No Fishermen" t-shirts.

The following is from West Marine's website:

West Marine's mission statement is to "Improve and conserve marine habitats" so that future generations can enjoy fish and sustainable fishing. Most people do not realize that in spite of the vastness of the oceans, many fish species are seriously overfished and depleted. Millions of tons of "by-catch", fish, birds, turtles, etc., unintentionally caught by certain types of longlines and trawl nets, are dumped needlessly back into the sea each year. In addition, some bottom trawls "rake" the ocean floor disturbing and destroying bottom habitat.

Read this statement and more from West Marine.

 

 

 

 

 

A new study uses the concepts of economic anthropology to understand the failures of New England groundfish management and to craft broad recommendations to correct the situation

“Modeling Disaster: The Failure of Management of the New England Groundfish Industry” is one of the latest papers to come from well-known “lobster commons” expert James Acheson, who has studied the success of Maine lobster fishery management for more than 20 years.

Maine’s lobster fishery, the study says, is well managed and sustainable, thanks largely to the role played by the localized nature of the fishery and the conservation ethic that arises when people know each other and solve problems together.

The “prisoner's dilemma” is a fundamental problem in game theory that demonstrates why two people might not cooperate even if it is in both their best interests to do so.

The classic example of the prisoner's dilemma involves two suspects arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated the prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies against the other and the other remains silent, the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation.

If it is assumed that each suspect cares only about minimizing his own time in jail, then the prisoner’s dilemma forms a game in which two prisoners may each cooperate with the police. The only concern of each individual prisoner is maximizing his own payoff, without concern for the other prisoner’s payoff.

Groundfishermen, the authors write, are caught in a prisoner’s dilemma, from which they have failed to escape.

“Until they do escape, this fishery will continue its downward spiral,” the authors write.

The authors rename the problem “the fishermen’s dilemma.” If conservation of the resource is the heart of fishery management, they write, then fishermen, to put it simplistically, have two choices – to follow the status quo, which represents overexploitation, or to follow a better management scheme. If the industry continues to follow the status quo, they write, there is no long-term payoff because the resource will continue to spiral down. If the industry follows a better management scheme, the payoff will be equal to the benefits of the scheme minus the costs. The full benefit of following a better management scheme is only achieved if everyone in the fishery follows the rule. Otherwise, the benefit is proportional to the number following the rule – that is, the fewer people who follow the rule, the lower the benefit.

Read the complete story at Fishermen's Voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pew Environment Group has issued the following release.

WASHINGTON and BOSTON – The Pew Environment Group's Lee Crockett, director of Federal Fisheries Policy, and Peter Baker, manager for New England Fisheries Campaigns, today commented on a new study by Ecotrust that found design concerns in the proposed West Coast trawl fishery catch share program. Support for this report was provided by the Pew Environment Group.

Lee Crockett, director of Federal Fisheries Policy, the Pew Environment Group:
"The Ecotrust study reinforces Pew's position that design matters when creating catch shares programs. It is critical that fisheries managers design these systems to both strengthen conservation efforts and protect those fishermen and fishing communities that support sustainable fishing practices."

While the Ecotrust report underscores that catch shares are not a one-size-fits-all solution for fisheries management, Pew believes that the sector allocation system implemented in New England's groundfish fishery, which is based on a method pioneered and proven to work by a group of local fishermen in the region, is thoughtfully considered and well designed.

Peter Baker, manager for New England Fisheries Campaigns, the Pew Environment Group:

"New England's sectors were initiated by fishermen as voluntary, cooperative and community-based, and were designed to protect fleet diversity and coastal communities. They give a collective of fishermen incentives to fish their allocations more efficiently. Those who develop more innovative fishing gear can target more of the healthy fish populations and avoid those populations that are struggling. This will help rebuild stocks while reaping the benefits of market demand. New England's sector program has just begun, and it deserves time to work."

To read the Ecotrust study, click here.

Additional Pew papers on Catch Shares:

Pew's white paper on catch shares, Design Matters

http://www.endoverfishing.org/resources/CatchShare.pdf

One Last Chance: The Economic Case for a New Approach to Fisheries Management in New England, a report written by resource economists Dr. Robert J. Johnston from Clark University and Dr. Jon G. Sutinen from University of Rhode Island.

http://www.endoverfishing.org/newengland/Johnston_Sutinen_2009.pdf

 

 

 

 

 In the wake of the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, among all the dead sea life and oil-encrusted beaches, the importance of conservation of the oceans looms even greater.

With the BP oil spill eclipsing even the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker incident in size and scope, and with no end in sight, this spill only adds to the degradation already occurring in the world's oceans.

Part of the underwater ecosystem damage is due to environmental mishaps. But the other, often overlooked reason, is simply overfishing. And like the deep-sea oil leak of BP, there is little agreement on how to stop the overfishing of our oceans.

For example, the Chinese, Japanese and Russians will not support a world measure to stop overfishing sharks, and the United Nations will not unanimously protect the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna. So that leaves it up to the citizens of our planet to help nature.

Read the complete story at The San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

 

 

 

 

 

"People who are mostly involved in fishing, generally speaking, are not for Cape Wind, although that's not to say that they're not for wind turbine power or alternative sources of power," said Mary Boyd, who owns a charter fishing company in Martha's Vineyard with her husband. "I think that your fishermen are some of your staunchest naturalists, because they understand it, and they live it every day. They know what they need. They're not the ones who are out there saying, 'Let's go mess up our natural resources.' At the same time, they're also looking at this and saying, 'We know the importance of the sound as it pertains to our fishing industry.'"

Some local fishing groups, along with Parker's organization, are concerned that the construction of the turbines could disturb the delicate marine ecosystem that serves as a habitat for bluefish, tuna, and striped bass, among other species popular among recreational fisherman. Commercial fishermen, in particular, are worried that the construction along the ocean floor could pose a threat to the species that feed along the seabed, such as cod, haddock and flounder.

Concern for the revenue of local fishermen has been a central rallying cry of opposition groups, many of which point to a study released by the Massachusetts Fisherman's Partnership, which estimates that Cape Wind's cost to commercial fishing in the region could reach anywhere from $8 million to $13 million over the next 25 years.

Read the complete story at Politics Daily.

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing is banned in parts of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary west of the Dry Tortugas, where an oil sheen was 100 miles away and closing in on the area, federal officials declared Wednesday.

Nearly 38 percent of the Gulf of Mexico, or 88,502 square miles, is now closed to fishing because of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, said Roy Crabtree, the National Marine Fisheries Service's southeast regional director.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expanded its fishing ban in federal waters effective at 6 p.m. after projecting the sheen would be within 50 or 60 miles of the Tortugas by Friday, Crabtree said.

Read the complete story at Florida Sportsman.