The Deepwater Horizon oil spill decimated oyster populations and other fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. In the years since the spill, the fisheries have been slow to recover. Today, they remain vulnerable to threats from hurricanes and flooding. This year’s record flooding sent large amounts of water down the Mississippi River, through the Bonnet Carre Spillway, and into the Gulf of Mexico, where it killed off some of the most productive oyster beds. The spillway protects communities in New Orleans. The record amount of flooding this year prompted the United States Army Corps of Engineers to keep the spillway open for longer than it has ever kept it open before. During the 123 days that the spillway was open, over a trillion cubic feet of freshwater passed through the spillway and into the Mississippi Sound, which is the location of some of the Gulf’s most productive fisheries.
Oysters and other saltwater fish and shellfish cannot survive when freshwater dilutes the water where the animals live, reducing the salt content of the water below what those species need to survive. Oyster fishers are not the only ones in the industry to report losses in connection with the water that came through the spillway this year. Blue crab catches have decreased, and shrimp fishers are often unable to catch enough shrimp to cover their operating costs. It is reported that more than ninety percent of oysters in the Gulf died this year, and it’s likely that there will be no commercial oyster harvest this year in the Gulf because of that.
Fisheries are not the only part of the Gulf ecosystem to be harmed by the waters that poured through the spillway earlier this year. Many dolphins and sea turtles perished, and many Mississippi beaches were closed for most of the summer because of algae blooms. The ecosystem of the Gulf Coast had been recovering slowly after the oil spill, but hurricanes and floodwaters continue to push fragile species into a crisis state. The economic impact of the oil spill left fisheries in the Gulf badly damaged, and those fishers who were able to return to harvesting seafood in the region are now again facing the possibility that they won’t be able to make a living fishing.
Some of the projects that have been given funding from the Deepwater Horizon settlement involve Gulf fisheries. For example, plans are underway to develop an oyster hatchery and research facility at the University of Southern Mississippi as part of the state’s oyster restoration efforts. Off-bottom oyster farming also came to the Gulf this year, but the farmers lost their oysters to the floodwaters. Many of the beaches that were closed this summer because of algae blooms are the subject of projects approved as part of the oil spill settlement.
Extreme flooding on the Mississippi River has had negative impacts downstream in the Gulf of Mexico, where fisheries, beaches, and marine life have been struggling to recover from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. To learn more about BP oil spill litigation, call the Mississippi BP Oil Spill Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC at 1 (800) 707-9577, to arrange an initial consultation.
