gulf oil spill + BFT spawning = not good

[AndyP]

There is an interesting response in the comment section of this site. The reactions to this terrible accident are not surprising and are likely to reverberate for quite a while. Let us hope that scientists with objectivity prevail on the bft fishery decision. I am not a scientist and did not weigh in on the discussion of quotas on this forum, but the fact that the bft is not listed as endangered is no surprise to those of us who watched acres of them on the surface off Cape Cod last year.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010...-tuna-fish.php

[FullStrikeAngler]

I was speaking with my Sat phone provider last evening, renewing my contract, and he told me they provide service to many of the government agenices working the spill. Their big concern is that if they fail to get that head shut down soon and the wind turns to the north, it will push the oil into the Loop Current. Once in that current it will round Key West, hit the Gulf Stream and head north. We as well as the entire east coast could very well be affected by it here later this summer. This has the potential to become the greatest man made ecological disaster ever.

[amarshall]

I was speaking with my Sat phone provider last evening, renewing my contract, and he told me they provide service to many of the government agenices working the spill. Their big concern is that if they fail to get that head shut down soon and the wind turns to the north, it will push the oil into the Loop Current. Once in that current it will round Key West, hit the Gulf Stream and head north. We as well as the entire east coast could very well be affected by it here later this summer. This has the potential to become the greatest man made ecological disaster ever.

several people I talked to are hugely concerned about this.

[Col. Kurtz]

I have been down in Destin, FL (western panhandle, right on the Gulf) for the last 2 says on a business conference and not surprisingly, this was the biggest subject of conversation throughout the meeting.

The resort I was at (Sandestin) is famed for it's sugar-white beaches, and they are expecting the slick to turn those beaches coal-black by tomorrow/Friday. Beyond that, they are talking about the local shellfish industry (oysters, crabs, shrimp, etc...) to be completely crushed for the next 10-20 years. The tourism industry is another matter altogether...

As many others here have discussed, BFT spawning in the Gulf could be seriously endangered and yes, if this shit makes it around the corner and hits the Gulf Stream, who the f*ck knows what this will do to the Eastern Seaboard fishery as a whole?