Tag Archives: 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill
EXXON VALDEZ RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTINUED COLLAPSE OF ALASKAN FISHERIES, STUDY SUGGESTS
Fish stocks in Alaska’s Prince William Sound may still be affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, according to a report from scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The report finds that the exposure of crude oil to Pacific herring and pink salmon embryos may affect their development into adults. The report challenges the notion that the collapse of herring stocks was unrelated to the Exxon spill, which was long held on the basis that the four-year gap between the spill and the herring collapse in 1993 suggested another cause. Read the rest here 16:42
NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center Scientists link oil exposure to reduced survival of fish
Federal scientists may have found a link between the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and a decline of herring and pink salmon populations in Prince William Sound.In a study published Tuesday in the online journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that embryonic salmon and herring exposed to even very low levels of crude oil can develop heart defects. Herring and pink salmon juveniles that were exposed to crude oil as embryos grew slower and swam slower, making them vulnerable to predators, said John Incardona, a research toxicologist at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, in a prepared statement “In terms of impacts to shore-spawning fish, the oil spill likely had a much bigger footprint than anyone realized.” Read the rest here 15:10
