Saving Seafood

Deepwater species in the Gulf of Mexico declined drastically after Deepwater Horizon oil spill

October 23, 2026 — Deepwater fish, shellfish, and squid populations in the Gulf of Mexico dropped significantly following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and have yet to recover 16 years later, according to a new study.

“Our findings are particularly concerning because these are species that are abundant, widespread, and historically might not have been considered vulnerable,” Florida International University (FIU) marine researcher Pedro Peres said in a release. “What we are seeing suggests that even species that appear abundant can experience substantial changes that may go unnoticed without monitoring.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Decade of Data Shows Rapid Decline in Pelagic Fish and Invertebrates in Deep Gulf

October 21, 2026 — Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientists across the region jumped into action to monitor its impacts. One particular effort focused on pelagic nekton—the small critters like fish, shrimp, and cephalopods that swim freely in the ocean and serve as the base of pelagic food webs. The Deep-Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf (DEEPEND) Consortium led this project to quantify long-term trends in the offshore fauna of the Gulf. While observed declines in these critical prey groups can’t be tied directly to the spill, scientists have not identified another likely explanation.

Tracking the Shift: A Decade of Deepwater Science

The first pelagic nekton sampling effort took place as soon as possible following the spill, with sampling occurring almost continuously for 9 months in 2011. These data represent the benchmark of pelagic nekton to which past and future numbers can be compared. The numbers were also similar to data collected during the 1980s and 1990s.

The next sampling involved six efforts across four consecutive years (2015–2018), followed by three more in 2021–2023. Overall, these efforts comprise more than a decade of abundance and composition data for pelagic nekton in the Gulf of America.

During each of these events, the project team sampled discrete depths from 0 to 1,500 meters in the Gulf using a 10-square-meter Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System, or MOCNESS, with 3 millimeter mesh. Once net tows were complete, the science teams identified and counted each of the animals collected in each sample.

In addition to traditional net-sampling methods, the team also used echosounders to measure acoustic backscatter in the water column during the day and at night. This allowed them to independently estimate relative abundance of animals in fine spatial detail. Scientists also collected tissue samples from three dominant lanternfish species to monitor changes in genetic diversity.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Congressional Democrats warn against merging offshore energy agencies

July 10, 2026 — The catastrophic 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster led to the splitting of the federal Marine Minerals Administration into two separate agencies – one focused on offshore leasing and production, and another on safety.

Now Democratic leaders in Congress are sounding the alarm over the Trump administration’s move to reunite the agencies’ functions under one roof.

The April 2010 well blowout and fire killed 11 platform workers, discharged an estimated 4.9 billion barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and was only declared sealed five months later in September 2010.

Economic and environmental damages from the disaster led a year later to the creation of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to handle offshore energy management, alongside the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

In a July 8 letter to the Government Accountability Office, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., of the House Natural Resources Committee called for investigating the Department of the Interior’s proposal to recreate a unified Marine Minerals Administration.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Dems request probe of offshore agency reorganization

July 9, 2026 — Top Democrats on Wednesday called on Congress’ watchdog to investigate the Trump administration’s decision to merge two existing bureaus within the Interior Department to oversee offshore oil and gas, wind and mining.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and House Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether a consolidation could undermine beefed up oversight created after the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil disaster in 2010.

The letter — also signed by California Democrats Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Luz Rivas — zeroes in on the administration’s decision in April to consolidate the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to create a new Marine Minerals Administration.

Read the full article at E&E News

Three-Dimensional Acoustic Tracking Sheds Light on Beaked Whale Dive Behavior and Acoustic Detection

February 10, 2026 — A new peer-reviewed study in PLOS One sheds light on why some beaked whale species are more detectable than others using passive acoustic monitoring. Researchers examined how differences in species-specific diving and echolocation behaviors affect the ability to detect beaked whales using underwater listening devices. Beaked whales are one of the ocean’s most elusive groups of whales.

The findings are particularly important for the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico), a heavily industrialized region where reliable beaked whale population estimates are needed. A recent study found that beaked whale populations in the Gulf may have declined by as much as 83 percent since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This highlights the need to better understand them to conserve them effectively.

Beaked whales are notoriously difficult to study because they spend little time at the surface to be seen during traditional infrequent visual surveys (vessel and aerial). Passive acoustic monitoring offers a powerful alternative as continuous data is recorded for months at a time. However, this method requires knowledge of whale behavior to understand how to interpret the detection of whale sounds for population monitoring.

Acoustic Detection is Species-Specific

The study shows that detectability varies among beaked whale species, as does their dive and echolocation behavior. Goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), for example, were detectable for longer periods than Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris) or Gervais’ (Mesoplodon europaeus) beaked whales. Goose-beaked whales performed deeper foraging dives, often close to the seafloor, and produced clicks with higher source levels. These behavioral differences significantly increase the likelihood of detecting goose-beaked whales compared to the other two species.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

15 years after the BP oil spill disaster, how is the Gulf of Mexico faring?

April 22, 2025 — Down past New Orleans lies Plaquemines parish, a narrow sliver of land at the tip of Louisiana that reaches southward like a finger pointing into the Gulf of Mexico. Past barbecue joints, a naval base, Baptist churches, white egrets, blue herons, and signs advertising items FOR SALE (live shrimp, empty lots and crawfish), Captain Kindra Arnesen lives with her husband and dog in a tidy brick house that smells like eucalyptus potpourri and home cooking.

“There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than be out on the water fishing, especially offshore. I like to get high up on the boat and look out over the water as far as I can see,” Arnesen told Mongabay while stirring a pot of beans. She has worked small commercial fishing boats out in the gulf for decades. “The only thing I love more is my grandbaby.”

“Before the spill, you could ride out there and everywhere you rode there were bait balls of bonita, blue runners, thread herrings, spinners jumping through them. Everywhere you went it was just a sight,” Arnesen recounted, referring to plentiful schools of small fish and spinner dolphins in the open ocean. “After the spill you could ride a hundred miles and not see a bait ball … It slowly died.”

April 20, 2025, marked the 15th anniversary of what is known as the Deepwater Horizon disaster, when an oil rig operated by BP Exploration & Production exploded and sank in the Macondo prospect, 66 kilometers (41 miles) off the Louisiana coast.

Read the full story at Mongabay

 

Under Pressure to Restore Deep-Sea Corals

September 10, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For 3 weeks this summer, a team of experts set out on C-Innovation’s M/V Island Intervention to support the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities restoration projects. This effort aims to restore vital seafloor habitats damaged by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This operation, which took place within and around the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, involved a unique combination of data collection methods, as well as some competition akin to the 2024 Olympic Games!

The mission objectives were to:

  • Install new mooring buoys to prevent anchor damage to the seafloor in the sanctuary
  • Collect samples of mesophotic and deep-sea coral species for lab rearing and propagation
  • Collect additional biological, sediment, and water samples
  • Remove invasive lionfish and large marine debris
  • Complete habitat transect surveys
  • Execute coral transplants to test propagation and outplanting methods
  • Deploy equipment such as benthic landers and Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures

The Pressure is On—Literally

Working at depth—in this case, several hundred feet below the ocean’s surface—takes some unique methodologies. Often, restoration teams deploy specialized equipment such as remotely operated vehicles to collect samples or observations deep in the ocean. In other cases—as with this mission—we also employ some good old-fashioned humans to get the job done.

Due to our specific needs on this expedition, we partnered with saturation divers from the Navy Experimental Diving Unit. These divers are expertly trained to work quickly and nimbly underwater for long periods of time. Saturation diving involves divers being at depth long enough to bring all the body’s tissues into equilibrium with the pressures of the compressed breathing gas in their tank. Most recreational and scientific diving requires divers to spend hours decompressing before returning to the surface after each dive. Saturation diving saves time by keeping the divers under pressure the whole time (cue: Freddie Mercury vocals).

This method requires specialized equipment and techniques to get the job done safely. While the divers live on deck between dives like everyone else, they have to stay within a pressurized chamber on board to ensure the pressure in their tissues remains consistent throughout the mission. Then, when it’s time to dive, the divers enter a diving bell that is lowered by a crane onboard the ship. Once lowered to the seafloor, the divers step out into the underwater realm and get to work.

NOAA and Deepwater Horizon Trustees Report on Progress Restoring the Gulf of Mexico

December 1, 2021 — NOAA and the Deepwater Horizon federal and state Trustee agencies recently released the 2021 Programmatic Review (PDF, 97 pages). This is the first collective review of multiple years of work across this Natural Resource Damage Assessment restoration program. It is restoring habitats, fish, and wildlife impacted by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The comprehensive program review includes analyses of restoration data collected through 2020.

Through the end of 2020, the Trustees received approximately $2.8 billion in settlement funding. They committed approximately $2.4 billion of those funds to the planning and implementing more than 200 projects and activities. In that time period, NOAA has led or partnered with other agencies on more than 60 of them.

The review evaluated data on funding and projects focused on resources in the seven Gulf of Mexico geographies, called restoration areas. It also covers administrative and management efforts helping achieve restoration goals collaboratively, in an efficient and effective manner, with transparency and public accountability.

In an effort to identify any needed program adjustments, the review also assessed performance of the Trustees’:

  • Governance structure
  • Financial management
  • Public engagement
  • Regulatory compliance

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries

$99.6 Million Approved to Continue Restoring Gulf-wide Resources Impacted by Deepwater Horizon

September 28, 2021 — NOAA and the Deepwater Horizon Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group have finalized their first restoration plan (PDF, 401 pages). The group includes all four federal agencies and all five Gulf states, collaborating and coordinating to restore the environment after the 2010 oil spill. The plan calls for $99.6 million to implement 11 restoration projects across all five of the Gulf coast states. It also targets specific locations in Mexico and on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Wildlife and other natural resources affected by the spill often live and migrate across jurisdictional boundaries, which requires a region-wide approach to restoration. This approach also links projects across regional jurisdictions.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

 

Engaging Anglers to Improve Catch and Release Practices and Restore Reef Fish in the Gulf

June 14, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA’s Deepwater Horizon restoration partners at the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission selected three new partners to conduct studies on reef fish restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. They were chosen through a competitive process, and the awards total approximately $690,000.

These studies are contributing to a $30 million project to encourage anglers to use fish descending devices. These devices increase survival of reef fish experiencing barotrauma in the Gulf’s recreational fisheries approved by the Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustees.

Barotrauma is damage caused by the rapid expansion of gases in fish that are caught in deeper water and quickly brought up to the surface. As the gases expand, they can damage the eyes, stomach, and other parts of the fish. This makes it difficult for them to swim back down and survive once released. Descending devices help fish by quickly releasing them at their normal depth, reducing the number of reef fish that die from catch and release fishing.

Read the full release here