New Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Study Reveals Full Economic Extent of BP Oil Spill

The BOEM study covers the effects of the spill from May through December 2010. This time period is also being used to calculate damages paid to fishermen under their 2012 private settlement agreement with BP. Thestudy shows that the well blowout cost the region’s commercial fishing industry anywhere from $94.7 million to $1.6 billion. Job loss was estimated at 740 all the way up to 9,315.The economics of the Gulf seafood industry are complex, with factors such as catch scarcity, fluctuating prices, and the availability of imported seafood. Additionally, certain retailers may have permanently shifted their business to other producers. The report used 2009 market prices for dockside sales, value-added seafood, and income.

The report showed that Louisiana was hit hardest by the spill compared to the other Gulf States. Crab, shrimp, oyster, and menhaden were the species most significantly affected. After the spill, sixty-five percent less shrimp was landed in Louisiana than the year before. Oyster catch declined by fifty-four percent, and menhaden landings were down by twenty-five percent. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama all saw a decrease in blue crab (forty-two percent, thirty-eight percent, and thirty-six percent, respectively).

Despite the heavy losses, some states actually saw an increase in profits and/or landings. Texas increased its oyster harvests in 2010 and commanded higher prices the next year. Louisiana saw a doubling of its menhaden landings from 2010 to 2011, helping to mitigate that industry’s losses. Since the study only focuses on the eight months after the spill, effects on pelagic species such as tuna that were spawning in the Gulf at the time are unknown, but the study’s author warns that these longer-term costs could go much higher than the report’s estimates.