Pacific herring vanished after disaster, and Gulf fishermen fear it will happen here. HOUSTON = July 17, 2010 – The Gulf of Mexico isn't dead because of BP's oil spill, but fishermen are fearful that a species may disappear from its waters like the Pacific herring did from Alaska's Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez disaster.
Although scientists still debate the reasons for the herring collapse in the years following that spill, there's little doubt the crude in the Gulf is threatening species prized as human seafood, as well as those creatures' food sources.
"The biggest fear we have is red snapper, which eats a lot of shrimp and crab," said Buddy Guindon, who owns Katie's Seafood Market in Galveston and operates three commercial fishing boats in the Gulf. "What will be the replacement food for the snapper? It could cause the collapse of a lot of fisheries."