Abstract
The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) total fishery production varies around one million metric tons per year. Fishery production is based on a diverse set of invertebrate and finfish species, including estuarine, continental shelf, and open-ocean species. The GoM has been subjected to two large oil spills in the Southern (Ixtoc 1, 1979–1980) and in the Northern GoM (Deepwater Horizon 2010) that caused serious concern about impacts on the abundance and seafood safety of fishery resources. Scientific evidence does not indicate a collapse or a clear impact on long-term fishery productivity related to either the Ixtoc 1 or DWH oil spills. Fishery landings in the Northern GoM returned quickly to pre-spill levels, and short-term declines could be attributed to the extensive fishery closure in the US exclusive economic zone. In the Southern GoM, fishery production post-Ixtoc 1 decreased dramatically over time attributed primarily to overharvesting of the main target species. Although no oil spill impact on the fishery resources was apparent at the population level, there is considerable evidence of impacts at the organismal and sub-individual levels, and there is concern how these effects could impact fishery resources in the long term. The responses of fish and shellfish populations are analyzed in relation to reproductive strategies, distribution of nursery grounds and critical habitats, exploitation status, oil spill distribution, and overall pollution levels. Fish and shellfish populations show a high capacity to withstand/recover from natural and anthropogenic impacts by taking advantage of favorable environmental conditions and by evolving life history strategies robust to seasonal and interannual variability. Stock resiliency is affected by several factors but mainly overharvesting that may reduce reproductive potential and compromise fishery resource resiliency in the eventual case of another large-scale oil spill disaster.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Amezcua-Linares F, Amezcua F, Gil-Manrique B (2015) Effects of the Ixtoc I oil spill on fish assemblages in the Southern Gulf of Mexico. In: Alford JB, Peterson MS, Green CC (eds) Impacts of oil spill disasters on marine habitats and fisheries in North America. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 209–236
Arocha F, Lee DW, Marcano LA, Marcano JS (2000) Preliminary studies on the spawning of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, in the western Central Atlantic. Collect Vol Sci Pap ICCAT 52:538–551
Baisre JA (2018) An overview of Cuban commercial marine fisheries: the last 80 years. Bull Mar Sc. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2017.1015
Brown-Peterson NJ, Krasnec MO, Lay CR, Morris JM, Griffitt RJ (2017) Responses of juvenile southern flounder exposed to Deepwater Horizon oil-contaminated sediments. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1067–1076
Carroll M, Genter B, Larkin S, Quigley K, Perlot N, Dehner L, Kroetz A (2016) An analysis of the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico seafood industry. U. S. Dept. of the Interior. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study BOEM 2016-020
Collins LA, Johnson AG, Keim CP (1995) Spawning and annual fecundity of the Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. In: Arreguín-Sánchez F, Munro JL, Balgos MC, Pauly D (eds) Biology, fisheries and culture of tropical groupers and snappers. ICLARM Conference Proceedings 48, pp 174–188
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (2016) Final programmatic damage assessment and restoration plan and final programmatic environmental impact statement. http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan
Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF) (2018) Actualización de la Carta Nacional Pesquera. Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación. Ciudad de México, México
Díaz de León A, Fernández I, Fernández-Méndez JI, Álvarez-Torres P, Ramírez-Flores O, López-Lemus LG (2004) Sustainability of fishing resources of the Gulf of Mexico. In: Caso M, Pisanty I, Ezcurra E (eds) Environmental diagnostics of the Gulf of Mexico. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, National Institute of Ecology, A. C., Harte Research Institute for the Gulf of México Studies, Vol. 2, pp 727–755
Dubansky B, Whitehead A, Miller JT, Rice CD, Gálvez F (2013) Multitissue molecular, genomic, and developmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on resident gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis). Environ Sci Technol 47:5074–5082
Fodrie FJ, Heck KL Jr (2011) Response of coastal fishes to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. PLoS ONE 6:e21609. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021609
Gallaway BJ, Gazey WJ, Cole JG, Fechhelm RG (2007) Estimation of potential impacts from offshore liquefied natural gas terminals on Red Snapper and drum fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico: an alternative approach. Trans Am Fish Soc 136:655–677
Gallaway BJ, Zsedlmayer ST, Gazey WJ (2009) A life history review for Red Snapper in the Gulf of Mexico with an evaluation of the importance of offshore petroleum platforms and other artificial reefs. Rev Fish Sci 17:48–67
González-Ania LV, Ulloa PA, Arenas P (2002) Tuna fishery. In: Fishing in Veracruz and perspectives for development. SAGARPA, Ciudad de México, México, p 435
Gracia A (1991) Spawning stock-recruitment relationships of White Shrimp in the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Trans Am Fish Soc 120:519–527
Gracia A (1992) Explotación y manejo del recurso camarón. Ciencia y Desarrollo 18:82–95
Gracia A (1995) Impacto de la pesca artesanal sobre la producción de camarón rosado Penaeus Farfantepenaeus duorarum Burkenroad, 1939. Cienc Mar 21:343–359
Gracia A (1996) White shrimp, Penaeus setiferus, recruitment overfishing. Mar Freshw Res 47:59–63
Gracia A (2004) Utilization and conservation of the shrimp resource. In: Caso M, Pisanty I, Ezcurra E (eds) Environmental assessment of the Gulf of Mexico. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, National Institute of Ecology, A. C., Harte Research Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies, Vol. 2, pp 713–725
Gracia A, Vázquez-Bader AR, Arreguín-Sánchez F, Schultz-Ruiz L, Sánchez-Chávez J (1997) Ecology of Penaeid Shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico. In: Flores-Hernández D, Sánchez-Gil P, Seijo JC, Arreguín-Sánchez F (eds) Analysis and evaluation of critical fishing resources of the Gulf of Mexico. EPOMEX. Scientific Series, 7, pp 127–144
Gracia A, Vázquez-Bader AR (1998) The effects of artisanal fisheries on penaeid shrimp Stocks in the Gulf of México. In: Funk F, Quinn TJ, Heifetz J, Ianelli JN, Powers JE, Schweigert JF, Sullivan PJ, Zhang CI (eds) Proceedings of the International Symposium Fishery Stock Assessment Models for the 21st Century. University of Alaska, Sea Grant College, pp 977–998
Gracia A, Vázquez-Bader AR (1999) Shrimp fisheries in the South of the Gulf of Mexico. Present state and future management alternatives. In: Kumpf H, Steidinger D, Sherman K (eds) The Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem. Assessment, sustainability, and management. Blackwell Science, Berlin, pp 205–234
Hart RA (2015a) Stock assessment update for Pink Shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for 2014. NOAA Fisheries Southeast Science Center, Galveston Laboratory 18 pp.
Hart RA (2015b) Stock assessment update for White Shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus) in the U. S. Gulf of Mexico for 2014. NOAA Fisheries Southeast Science Center, Galveston Laboratory 17 pp.
Hart RA, Nance JM (2013) Three decades of U.S. Gulf of Mexico White shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus catch commercial statistics. Mar Fish Rev 75:43–47
Hazen LE, Carlisle AB, Wilson SG, Gagnong JE, Castleton MR, Schallert RJ, Stokesbury MJW, Bograd SJ, Block BA (2016) Quantifying overlap between the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and predicted Bluefin Tuna spawning habitat in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientific Reports 6:33824. https://doi.org/10.10138/srep33824
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) (2007) Report of the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS). Madrid, Spain, October 1–5, 2007, 213 pp.
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna. Executive Summary BFTE. Web Mar. 6, 2015. https://www.iccat.int/Documents/SCRS/ExecSum/BFT_EN.pdf
Incardona JP, Gardner LD, Linbo TL, Brown TL, Esbaugh AJ, Mager EM, Stieglitz JD, French BL, Labenia JS, Laetz CA, Tagal M, Sloan CA, Elizur A, Benetti D, Grosell M, Block BA, Scholz NA (2014) Deepwater Horizon crude oil impacts the developing hearts of large predatory pelagic fish. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 111:E1510–E1518
Jernelöv A, Lindén O (1981) Ixtoc I: a case study of the world’s largest oil spill. Ambio 10:299–306
Karnauskas, M, Kelble CR, Regan S, Quenée C, Allee R, Jepson M, Freitag A, Craig JK, Carollo C, Barbero L, Trifonova N, Hanisko D, Zapfe G (2017) Ecosystem status report update for the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC 706, 51 pp
McNutt M, Chu S, Lubchenco J, Hunter T, Dreyfus G, Murawski SA, Kennedy DM (2012) Applications of science and engineering to quantify and control the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:20,222–20-228
Moddy RM, Cebrina J, Heck KL Jr (2013) Interannual recruitment dynamics for resident and transient marsh species: evidence for a lack of impact of the Macondo Oil Spill. PLos ONE 8(3):e58376. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.10058376
Muhling BA, Roffer MA, Lamkin JT, Ingram GW Jr, Upton MA, Gawlikowski G, Muller-Karger F, Habtes S, Richards WJ (2012) Overlap between Atlantic Bluefin Tuna spawning grounds and observed Deepwater Horizon surface oil in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Mar Pollut Bull 64:679–687
Murawski SA, Fleeger JW, Patterson WF, Hu C, Daly K, Romero I, Toro-Farmer G (2016) How did the Deepwater Horizon oil spill affect coastal and continental shelf ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico? Oceanography 29(3):160–173
Murawski SA, Peebles EB, Gracia A, Tunnell JW Jr, Armenteros M (2018a) Comparative abundance, species composition and demographics of continental shelf fish assemblages throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Mar Coast Fish 10:325–346
Murawski SA, Patterson II W, Campbell M (2018b) Has abundance of continental shelf fish species declined after Deepwater Horizon? Presentation at: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference, New Orleans, LA, 5–8 February 2018
Programa Coordinado de Estudios Ecológicos en la Sonda de Campeche (1980) Informe de los trabajos realizados para el control del pozo Ixtoc 1, el derrrame de petróleo y determinación de sus efectos sobre el ambiente marino. Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, México City
Pulster EL, Gracia A, Snyder SM, Deak K, Folgelson S, Murawski SA (2019) Chronic sub-lethal effects observed in wild-caught fishes following two major oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico: DWH and Ixtoc 1 (Chap. 24). In: Murawski SA, Ainsworth C, Gilbert S, Hollander D, Paris CB, Schlüter M, Wetzel D (eds) Deep oil spills: facts, fate and effects. Springer, Cham
Rice SD, Spies RB, Wolfe DA, Wright BA (1996) Proceedings of the Exxon Valdez oil spill symposium. American Fisheries Society Symposium 19, Bethesda, MD. 931 pp.
Rooker JR, Landry AM Jr, Geary BW, Harper JA (2004) Assessment of a shell bank and associated substrates as nursery habitat of post-settlement red snapper. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 59:653–661
Rooker JR, Kitchens LL, Dance MA, Well RJD, Falterman B, Cornic M (2013) Spatial, temporal, and habitat-related variations in abundance of pelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico: potential implications of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. PLoS ONE 8(10):e76080. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076080
Ryerson TB, Camilli R, Kessler JD, Kujawinski EB, Reddy CM, Valentine DL, Atlas E, Blake DR, de Gouw J, Meinardi S, Parrish DD, Peischi J, Seewald JS, Warneke C (2012) Chemical data quantify Deepwater Horizon hydrocarbon flow rate and environmental distribution. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:20246–20253
SEDAR 7 (2005) Stock Assessment Report of SEDAR7. Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper, Charleston, SC, 480 pp
SEDAR 31 (2013) Stock assessment report: Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper. Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review
Sun S, Hu C, Tunnell JW Jr (2015) Surface oil footprint and trajectory of the Ixtoc-1 oil spill determined from Landsat /MSS and ZCS observations. Mar Pollut Bull 101:632–641
Szedlmayer ST, Shipp RL (1994) Movement and growth of red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, from an artificial reef area in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Bull Mar Sci 55:887–896
Szedlmayer ST, Mudrak PA (2014) Influence of age-1 conspecifics, sediment type, dissolved oxygen, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on recruitment of age-0 red snapper in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico during 2010 and 2011. N Am J Fish Manag 34:443–452
Tunnell JW Jr (2014) In: RE Oil Spill of the “Deepwater Horizon” Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 210. Expert Report of Dr. John W. Tunnell, Jr. 155 pp
Tunnell JW Jr (2017) Shellfishes of the Gulf of Mexico. In: Ward HC (ed) Habitats and biota of the Gulf of Mexico: before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, vol 1. Rice University, Houston, TX, pp 769–845
Wilson CA, Nieland DL (2001) Age and growth of red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, from the northern Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana. Fish Bull 99:653–664
Xia K, Hagood G, Childers C, Atkins J, Rogers B, Ware L, Armbrust K, Jewell J, Díaz D, Gatian N, Folmer H (2012) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Mississippi seafood from areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environ Sci Technol 46:5310–5318
Ylitalo GM, Krahn MM, Dickhoff WW, Stein JE, Walker CC, Lassiter CL, Garrett ES, Desfosse LL, Mitchell KM, Noble BT, Wilson S, Beck NB, Benner RA, Koufopoulos PN, Dickey RW (2012) Federal seafood safety response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:20274–20279
Acknowledgments
The synthesis of this research was made possible by grants from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative through the Center for the Integrated Modeling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem (C-IMAGE).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gracia, A., Murawski, S.A., Vázquez-Bader, A.R. (2020). Impacts of Deep Oil Spills on Fish and Fisheries. In: Murawski, S., et al. Deep Oil Spills. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_25
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11604-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11605-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)