Sickened fish in
Gulf alarm
scientists
Written by
Gannett
10:09 PM, May. 8, 2011|
PENSACOLA - Scientists are alarmed by the
discovery of unusual numbers of fish in the
Gulf of Mexico and inland waterways with
skin lesions, fin rot, spots, liver blood clots
and other health problems.
"It's a huge red flag," said Richard Snyder,
director of the University of West Florida
Center for Environmental Diagnostics and
Bioremediation. "It seems abnormal, and
anything we see out of the ordinary we'll try
to investigate."
Are the illnesses related to the BP oil spill,
the cold winter or something else?
That's the big question Snyder's colleague,
University of West Florida biologist William
Patterson III, and other scientists along the
Gulf Coast are trying to answer. If the
illnesses are related to the oil spill, it could
be a warning sign of worse things to come.
In the years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez
oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound,
the herring fishery collapsed and has not
recovered, according to an Exxon Valdez
Oil Spill Trustee report. The herring
showed similar signs of illness - including
skin lesions - that are showing up in Gulf
fish.
Worried that same scenario could play out
along the Gulf Coast, Patterson is
conducting research on the chronic effects
of the BP oil spill on Gulf fish. And he sees
troubling signs consistent with oil exposure:
fish with lesions, external parasites, odd
pigmentation patterns, and diseased livers
and ovaries. These may be signs of
compromised immune systems in fish that
are expending their energy dealing with
toxins, Patterson said.
"I've had tens of thousands of fish in my
hands and not seen these symptoms in so
many fish before," said Patterson, who has
been studying fish, including red snapper,
for 15 years. "All those symptoms have
been seen naturally before, but it's a
matter of them all coming at once that
we're concerned about."
He's conducting the research with some of
the $600,000 in BP money distributed to
University of West Florida from $10 million
the oil company gave to the Florida Institute
of Oceanography in Tampa, to study the
impact of the spill.
Higher scrutiny
As part of his studies, Patterson is
collecting samples at targeted sites in the
Gulf and from commercial fishermen.
Samples from his targeted sites have
shown fewer problems than those from
fishermen.
While Patterson is alarmed, he's quick to
point that the Gulf's ecosystem never
before has been scrutinized as closely as it
is now, or by so many scientists.
"Are we looking more closely, or are these
unusual?" he said.
Sick fish have been reported from offshore
and inshore waters from Northwest Florida
to Louisiana, he said. Scientists are trying to
figure out how prevalent these
abnormalities are and their cause.
In that pursuit:
- Scientists at Louisiana State University's
veterinarian school are in the Gulf looking
into what microbes might be causing the
diseases.
- Pensacola marine biologist Heather Reed
is studying red snapper for a private client
using broader testing methods than
mandated by the federal government,
which she says are not adequate.
"I've been testing different organs in game
fish that have been brought to me, and I'm
seeing petroleum hydrocarbons in the
organs," said Reed, the environmental
adviser for the city of Gulf Breeze. "I was
shocked when I saw it."
All the studies are aimed at one goal: "To
find out what is really going on and get
things back to normal," Reed said.
Solving the mystery
But both Reed and Patterson say it's hard
to determine just how many fish are being
found sick because many commercial
fishermen are reluctant to report their
findings to state and federal officials out of
fear fishing grounds will be closed and
their livelihoods will be put at risk.
At the same time, to protect the future of
the Gulf, Patterson said, the fishermen
quietly are asking scientists to look into
what is happening.
Clay Palmgren, 38, of Gulf Breeze-based
Bubble Chaser Dive Services, is an avid
spear fisherman who has not seen sick fish
so far. But he said many of his angler
friends, both recreational and commercial,
are talking about catching fish that appear
abnormal.
"I'm 100 percent glad scientists are looking
at this," he said.
"I'm concerned with the health of fish, and I
think it will take a couple of years for the
(toxins) to work up the food chain. I think
that's a shame."
Patterson's studies and those of other
scientists delving into this mystery of the
sick fish are not trying to determine
whether the seafood is safe for public
consumption.
"There is fish health and human health, and
we're concerned about the sublethal effects
of the oil spill on communities of fish," he
said.
Findings so far demonstrate that studies
need to continue far into the future, he
said.
The $500 million BP has provided for long-
range research on the Gulf oil spill will
ensure "people will be examining the
impacts for the next decade," Patterson
said.
The cause of the fish illnesses may be hard
to nail down, Snyder said.
"Cause and effect is a huge problem for
environmental work," Snyder said. "You see
anomalies in fish. Is it oil-related? How do
we prove it? We can make the connection
with economic stuff. But after the oil is
gone, how do you definitely say the fish are
sick because of the oil spill? We may never
know, and that's the frustrating thing."
0 comments:
Post a Comment