Abstract
Relatively few studies in the research literature on technological disasters include commercial fishers whose livelihood, culture, and way of life are all deeply tied to bayous and natural waterways for generations. In this chapter, we address the impact of the 2010 British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill on commercial fishers sampled from two coastal parishes (counties) in south Louisiana. The individuals who provided the qualitative interviews upon which this chapter is based were participants in a larger study on long-term recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that devastated the US Gulf Coast in 2005. All respondents were exposed to the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the 2008 Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, and most recently the 2010 BP oil spill. We begin with a brief review of the literature on the psychosocial impact of disasters and examine the related concept of cumulative adversity. Content analysis of qualitative data from interviews conducted at least 12 months after the oil spill yielded three emergent themes which we present here: (1) Troubled Present, Uncertain Future; (2) Environmental Devastation; and (3)The “Pileup” Effect After a Decade of Disasters. Implications for individuals and families who have been directly impacted by the BP oil spill are considered.
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Notes
- 1.
There are 42 gallons in a barrel of oil, placing the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill at roughly 5 million barrels. Spill estimates range from 185 to 205 million gallons of oil.
- 2.
“Bae,” is a slang expression similar to “Baby.” (Definition of Bae, 2010)
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Acknowledgments
We thank George Barisich, President of the United Commercial Fishermen’s Association, for his help with recruitment and Frank Campo of Campo’s Marina in Yscloskey (southeastern St. Bernard) for providing space for interviews. We also thank Ashley Cacamo, Annie Crapanzano, and Benjamin Staab for assistance with data collection and Rachel Adamek, Devon Welsch, Kristina Fitzgerald, Claire Bernacchio, and Dina Anbinder for help with data scoring. We are grateful to Sr. Mary Keefe, Huey Gonzales, Charlie Robin, Lauren Denley, John Tesvich, and Eva Vujnovich for their contribution to the research effort, and Matthew Lee, Vijay John, and John E. Supan for their assistance in exposition concerning spat and dispersants.
This research was supported by grants from the Louisiana Board of Regents and the BP Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, Office of Research and Economic Development, Louisiana State University. This support is gratefully acknowledged.
Correspondence concerning this chapter should be addressed to Katie E. Cherry, Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-5501 (e-mail: pskatie@lsu.edu).
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Lyon, B., Nezat, P., Cherry, K., Marks, L. (2015). When Multiple Disasters Strike: Louisiana Fishers in the Aftermath of Hurricanes and the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. In: Cherry, K. (eds) Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18866-9_4
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