Commercial catches for several varieties of seafood have decreased since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials said. Since the oil spill, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has paid close attention to the possible depletion of natural resources such as fish, crabs and shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico so a restoration plan can be put in place, said spokeswoman Ashley Roth.
“As a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, impacts to Louisiana’s natural resources continue to be investigated as part of a scientific and legal process called the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process as set forth under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990,” she said. “Although we do not yet know the full extent of the damages to our resources, including the impacts to fisheries resources, the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process will assist in determining the size and scope of injuries to natural resources, as well as the services those resources provide, resulting from the oil spill. Once the scope and the scale of the injuries are understood, the state and federal trustees managing the NRDA process will develop and implement restoration plans to compensate the public for those injuries.
One of the most significant declines between 2010 and 2013 was the catches of yellowfin tuna, which decreased by 52 percent in comparison with catches recorded between 2002 and 2009, Roth said.
Catches for yellowfin tuna in the Gulf plummeted to 439,903 in 2010, compared to over 1.9 million of the species caught in 2009. Catches have since rebounded slightly with nearly 1.2 million caught in 2013.
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