Evaluating the Effectiveness of Fishery Closures for Deep Oil Spills Using a Four-Dimensional Model
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2020
Keywords
Deepwater Horizon, Fishery closures, Oil spill, Marine pollution, Resource management, Spill response
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12963-7_23
Abstract
During the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, extensive areas of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) were closed for fishing due to the risk of seafood contamination and fishers’ health. The closures were determined daily according to the estimated extent of the spill relying mainly on satellite imaging. These closures were largely limited to the northern GoM. Yet, evidence from the field indicates a presence of oil beyond the closures, in some cases at toxic concentrations. With the advancement of oil transport modeling, together with the availability of new in situ data, we examine the 4D extent of the DWH spill, along with the effectiveness of the fishery closures in capturing the oil spill extent. We use the oil application of the Connectivity Modeling System (oil-CMS), cross-checked against in situ BP Gulf Science Data (GSD) and other published studies. The oil-CMS indicates that DWH extended well beyond the satellite footprint and fishery closures, with the closures capturing only ~55% of the total extent of the spill. With an increasing global shift toward deep-sea drilling, our findings are important for the safety of coastal communities and marine ecosystems around deep-sea drilling areas.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Fishery Closures for Deep Oil Spills Using a Four-Dimensional Model, in S. A. Murawski, C. H. Ainsworth, S. Gilbert, D. J. Hollander, C. B. Paris, M. Schlüter and D. L. Wetzel (Eds.), Scenarios and Responses to Future Deep Oil Spills: Fighting the Next War, Springer, p. 390-402
Scholar Commons Citation
Berenshtein, Igal; Perlin, Natalie; Murawski, Steven; Joye, Samantha; and Paris, Claire, "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Fishery Closures for Deep Oil Spills Using a Four-Dimensional Model" (2020). C-IMAGE Publications. 143.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cimage_pubs/143
Comments
Data used in this book chapter are available for download:
Connectivity Modeling System simulation of the Macondo Well Blowout evolution April through October 2010: The effects of circulation and wind-induced drift on subsea oil transport
Distribution of oil concentrations and oil mass in the Gulf of Mexico estimated from the Connectivity Modeling System simulation of the Deepwater Horizon 2010 oil spill
Distribution of oil concentrations in the Gulf of Mexico estimated from the Connectivity Modeling System simulation of the Deepwater Horizon 2010 oil spill; with wind drift
Three-dimensional daily oil concentrations and oil mass estimates in the Gulf of Mexico from the modeling of the Deepwater Horizon 2010 oil spill using a Connectivity Modeling System