Tag Archives: 2010 BP oil spill

Drill, baby, drill in the eastern Gulf? Don’t even think about it

Only a lucky break kept oil from the historic BP spill in 2010 away from the Florida Keys and Southwest Florida’s beaches. Though the spill happened off the coast of Louisiana, so much oil gushed from the blowout that it reached the Loop Current, which is part of the Gulf Stream. Normally, the current would have brought the oil far enough to reach South Florida after blackening beaches in the Panhandle.  Yet oil lobbyists and Congress are firing again. Congressional Republicans want to open more of the Gulf of Mexico to drilling. President Trump, who favors more exploration for fossil fuels, is empowering them. click here to read the story 13:09

Louisiana stops issuing new crabbing licenses, citing overfishing

State stops issuing new crabbing licensesThe state has stopped issuing new commercial crab licenses due to overfishing, a move local crab wholesalers say has long been needed in an industry flooded with newcomers. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials declared an emergency Thursday following a low blue crab count. The decision “aims to prevent increased fishing pressure and mortality by temporarily prohibiting new entrants into the fishery until more permanent regulatory and legislative measures can be developed to address the reduced stock status,” Read the rest here 07:29

Crabbers blame the 2010 BP oil spill for Crab Shortage – Searching for Answers

blue_crabMany crabbers blame the 2010 BP oil spill, which leaked an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The year before the spill, crabbers across the state experienced banner crops. In the Terrebonne Basin, crabbers pulled in more than 14 million pounds, the highest in more than a decade, those in the Barataria Basin pulled in their largest haul since 2006. But landings in the Barataria and Terrebonne basins are down 38 percent and 31 percent, respectively, following the spill, according to recent state data. Across Louisiana, the decrease has been 23 percent. Read the rest here 14:36

Special Master Questions $8M in Oil-Spill Payouts – Law firms that handled claims against BP settlement also targeted.

A special master tasked with rooting out fraud in BP PLC’s $9.9 billion oil-spill settlement has sought the return of nearly $8 million in awards paid to commercial fishermen and . Former FBI director Louis Freeh has filed clawback motions against more than a dozen claimants and lawyers who drew percentages of the payments in contingent fees. Lawyers targeted in nine motions have repaid fees, and a federal judge has ordered one claimant to return money, Freeh has reported. Read the rest here 11:22

In the Gulf – Seafood industry stable but struggling

Every year around this time, Kim Chauvin gets angry. The 2010 BP Oil Spill has damaged the success of the seafood companies Kim owns with her husband, David. “You try not to think about it because it can really get you worked up,” she said. The couple own Mariah Jade and David Chauvin seafood companies in Chauvin. Before the spill, business was great, and though they were relatively fortunate in the years following, the market has turned itself upside down. Read the rest here 08:34

2010 BP oil spill still having an impact on commercial fishing

Commercial catches for several varieties of seafood have decreased since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials said. Since the oil spill, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has paid close attention to the possible depletion of natural,,, Read the rest here 07:37