Tuna Fishermen Plan To Claim Against BP Over Fear Of Future Effectsff

Source:  The Gazette



A fisherman’s group on Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) plans to join the compensation list being filed against BP over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

“The day might come in a few years where there’s suddenly very few tuna around P.E.I.,” said Mike McGeoghegan of the P.E.I. Fisherman’s Association. “And that could be the consequence of the spill.”

The latest estimates suggest up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day are leaking from a ruptured BP well, which is not expected to be permanently capped until the first of two relief wells is completed, allowing mud and cement to be injected into the leak.

The ruptured well was caused by the April 20 explosion on BP'S Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which killed 11 people and burst the oil well.

Bluefin tuna spawn in the warm coastal waters around the Gulf of Mexico and fishermen are worried the oil could damage the herd, which migrates to the waters off P.E.I.

British Petroleum has a $20 billion fund set aside to pay for damaged livelihoods caused by the giant oil spill.

“Two or three years from now we might see half the size of the school of tuna that normally arrives around the island,” said McGeoghegan. “Imagine if you had to swim through that mess and reproduce?”

There are more than 300 licensed tuna fishermen on the island. The fishery sells mainly to Japan but offers a large sport fishery as well with fishermen from around the world coming to hook a horse mackerel.

“If we don’t file now and miss the chance we will have no legal grounds and could be facing terrific losses in the years ahead.”

Earlier this week it was also reported some American buyers, scrambling for replacement seafood, are putting in orders to some Prince Edward Island producers.

Jerry Bidgood of Prince Edward Aqua Farms mussel farm in New London, P.E.I., was fielding calls last week from Texas and other buyers in the southern U.S. states anxious to find something to replace the supply shortage of shrimp and other seafood products soiled in the spill.

He said it was too early to determine the actual quantities being sought but expected it would only continue to grow.