Spill's Impact on Bluefin Tuna Less Severe than Expected

Last year's BP oil spill probably won't push the troubled bluefin tuna population in the Gulf of Mexico over the edge as some scientists had feared, a federal analysis shows. Of all the potential damage from the 172-million-gallon (651-million-litre) spill in April 2010, scientists had been most concerned about how the oil spill would harm an already overfished species of large tuna. That's because about one-fifth of the spawning habitat where the Gulf's baby tuna were living was coated with oil, according to satellite records. Tuna less than a year old are most vulnerable to pollution. 

 

An analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, using two different projections from computer models, says that such a spill is likely to result in a 4 percent reduction in future spawning of the fish at most, but probably far less.

 

Bluefish tuna is considered one of the Gulf's signature species. A summit that begins on Monday 12^th December 2011 in Houston will examine the Gulf's health, including the government's restoration plans and the tuna's fate.