By Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, April 17, 2011
In Print: Sunday, April 17, 2011
Fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico have caught red snapper with bacterial infections that have eaten through skin. Scientists say it’s a sign a toxin has compromised the fish’s immune system. |  |
[Courtesy of Jim Cowan, Louisiana State University] |
A year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida beaches are relatively clean, the surf seems clear and the tourists are returning. But there are signs that the disaster is continuing to affect marine life in the gulf far from where humans can observe it.
National Geographic Map: The Gulf of Mexico - Layers of Life, October 2010
National Geographic Map: The Gulf of Mexico - Layers of Life, October 2010
Over the winter, anglers who had been working the gulf for decades began hauling in red snapper that didn't look like anything they had seen before.
The fish had dark lesions on their skin, some the size of a 50-cent piece. On some of them, the lesions had eaten a hole straight through to the muscle tissue. Many had fins that were rotting away and discolored or even striped skin. Inside, they had enlarged livers, gallbladders, and bile ducts.
"The fish have a bacterial infection and a parasite infection that's consistent with a compromised immune system," said Jim Cowan, an oceanographer at Louisiana State University, who has been examining them. "There's no doubt it's associated with a chronic exposure to a toxin."
He believes the toxin in question is oil, given where and when the fish were caught, their symptoms, and the similarity to other incidents involving oil spills. But he is awaiting toxicology tests to be certain.
Cowan said he hasn't seen anything like these fish in 25 years of studying the gulf, which persuades him that "it would be a pretty big coincidence if it wasn't associated with the oil spill."
If he were a detective, he'd be ready to make an arrest.
"It's a circumstantial case," he said, "but at the same time I think we can get a conviction."
BP, the Gulf Of Mexico And Population Reduction By Ian R Crane. - OV
Apr 18, 2011 ... BP, The Gulf of Mexico & Population Reduction. TONIGHT! ... That includes humans who consume fish or crustaceans. ... around the Gulf and that they are eating thefish and shrimp and that all is well... it makes me sick. ...Red snapper are reef fish that feed on mantis shrimp, swimming crabs and other small creatures found in the sediment on the gulf floor. Anglers catch them at anywhere from 60 to 200 feet deep. In addition to the snapper, some sheepshead have turned up with similar symptoms, Cowan said.
All of the scientists involved said they were nervous about what impact this might have on the gulf's seafood industry, which still has not recovered from the shutdowns and bad publicity during last year's crisis. Peebles pointed out that any premature release of information could also scare fishermen away from helping the scientists investigate what was going on.
"Now we're hiding information because political and economic interests don't want you to say anything because it would affect economic interests," said William "Bill" Hogarth, a former federal fisheries official who now oversees the Florida Institute of Oceanography. "But fishermen, they're seeing fish that are deformed."
Craig Pittman can be reached at craig@sptimes.com.
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