Great Decisions 2012 Spring Update: State of the Oceans

Great Decisions Updates are issued seasonally and provide groups with the latest news and analysis on topics. The Spring 2012 Update is current as of May, 2012. Download the Spring 2012 Update as a PDF here.

by Leslie Huang, assistant editor

 

A study by Chris Costello and Steve Gaines of the University of California, Santa Barbara significantly contradicts some assumptions about the state of the world’s fisheries. Although studies from the fishing industry suggest that ‘known’ fisheries are recovering, the new research, using a newly devised method to estimate fisheries populations, indicates that lesser-known fisheries are heavily depleted. The new study also estimates that only 2 percent of fisheries have collapsed—a fraction of previous estimates, which ranged as high as 30 percent.
 

The variance among different estimates of the health of fisheries has placed stress on fishermen and regulators in New England, where plummeting cod fisheries threaten the livelihood of fishermen. In February, U.S. regulators cut the allowed catch by 22 percent after data indicated that the species was far more severely overfished than previously thought.

According to research by the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI), climate change will, at current rates, increase the temperature of the earth by 4° C, causing almost $2 trillion in damage to the oceans over the next 90 years. The “Valuing the Oceans: The Costs of Climate Change” study, which will be published in June, examines five areas: fisheries, rising sea levels, storms, tourism and the ocean’s ability to act as a carbon sink.

In April, BP and Gulf Coast businesses and residents presented a federal judge with a proposed class-action settlement for over 100,000 residents and businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The environmental disaster, which began with an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig, resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. maritime history and severely affected coastal communities on the Gulf of Mexico. The settlement, which will cost an estimated $7.8 billion, will cover damages to coastal fisheries, individuals and tourism, and healthcare costs for cleanup crews that worked on the spill.
 

Separately, the government arrested Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, on April 24. The first person to face criminal charges over the oil spill, Mix is accused of intentionally destroying evidence by deleting text messages he exchanged with his supervisors about efforts to stem the flow of oil from the rig.