June 9, 2014 — Today marks the four-year anniversary of the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Eleven lives were lost on that day in 2010, and more than 200 million gallons of crude oil released into the Gulf of Mexico over the following months. To put that into perspective, the same volume of oil poured into the Empire State Building would reach the 77th floor — nearly three-quarters of the way to the top.
To many, things have returned to normal. Vacationers no longer see oil slicks sullying the beaches or filth-covered shore birds and poisoned fish.
According to reports by Florida research group Evans-Klages, provided by the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, the region saw 346,900 visitors in the summer of 2010, a drop of more than 200,000 from the previous year. But since that initial dip, lodging rentals and retail sales have been steadily increasing and in summer 2013, the number of visitors topped 655,000.
The increased tourism has been good business for Captain Ben Fairey, operator of Necessity Charters and a 40-year veteran of the industry.
“Everything is good,” said Fairey. “Our business is directly linked to tourism, so if tourism is up, we’re up … You can’t even tell there was an oil spill. Our fishing is as good as it gets.”
Others are not as optimistic.
Tom Steber, general manager of Zeke’s Marina, is also president of the Orange Beach Fishing Association.
“There are a lot of areas in the Gulf where the fishing is not that good but most of it’s further offshore, closer to the well site,” said Steber. “That whole area out there is kind of a dead zone, for lack of a better word.”
These areas are not closed to fishing, per se, according to Steber. The problem is that there are just no fish in areas where they used to be plentiful, an issue that is exacerbated by the shortened season on red snapper — the dominant reef fish in the area.
“It’s devastated the charter industry,” he said. “Charter boats used to fish out 200 trips a year, now they’re doing good to do 60. It’s hard to make a living when you’ve got 28 days, 40 days to fish.”
Read the full story at the Anniston Star