Could the BP oil spill result in the US increasing imports on seafood?

 

According to an article by Abramson from the New York Times yesterday, the BP oil spill has closed a lifestyle for many fishermen for a longer period of time “than anyone here can remember.” Daniel Workman wrote a month ago of the contamination this leak has unleashed on marine wildlife. A belief, that is implicitly echoed by Steve Adams writer for The Patriot Ledger who quoted the President and CEO of South Boston importer Stavis Seafoods, Richard Stavis, as saying “there could be a shortage. It could get significantly more expensive and it could knock it off menus,” in reference to seafood demand. Unless there is quick clean up and restoration to the marine environment in the Gulf, the odds of an increase in price for that seafood buffet increase in cost unless businesses exercise importing cheap seafood from other parts of the United States that have fisheries or other countries altogether. The hope that fishermen in the Gulf will be able to return to work swiftly is still alive but numerous other factors can influence the conclusion of this disaster. Factors such as time management, clean-up costs, and even the task of capping the oil leak to prevent future spillage, will need to be planned and executed with efficiency and regard for the environment. As to send a fisherman or fisherwoman to do what they’re good at in a polluted environment, is sending their income down the drain altogether from other issues that may arise such as food poisoning.

 

The Fact Some Find Comfort In Ignoring

Image by J.Otavia Flickr

Next time you visit a fish market and pass a fisherman selling his or her catch, be sure to ask them if they have seen pollutants where they fish. According to the Naked Scientists, a group of scientists in the United Kingdom from various fields with various podcasts on the world of science, “a huge proportion of the CO2 that we’re putting into the atmosphere ends up dissolved in the oceans, making them more acidic.” However CO2 is not the only threat to this ecosystem, plastics, or rather the remnants of plastic bags and other consumer goods, make their way into oceans around the world. As a matter of fact, according to Kimberly Amaral, author of “Plastics in Our Oceans“, “Plastic is durable and strong–precisely the qualities that make it so dangerous if it reaches the ocean.”

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Yet can plastics be found excessively in our oceans? Absolutely. As a matter of fact due to the way the currents move accordingly with the Gulf Stream there is an island of plastic somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and according to the Popular Science blog that mound of trash, “that’s twice the size of Texas is floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii.” Futhermore the article states that it the debris is , “80 percent plastic, and weighs in at 3.5 million tons”, not to mention it’s growing rate as the current adds more debris to the buildup. So now that we know this is happening, the solution lies at the end of a complex path. With som many other issues facing many of the countries nearby, specifically the United States, some can argue that this heap will simply be added to the rest to be tackled some other day. At the end of the day it comes down to priority, but how long can we delay massive cleanups of our ocean, and how long do the species that live in those very waters have to live, those and many other questions to be answered later on.