University of Florida study finds BP oil spill had half billion dollar impact on Gulf recreational fishermen

A new study from the University Florida said Gulf of Mexico recreational fishermen were impacted to the tune of over a half billion dollars after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The study appeared online in July in the Journal of Environmental Management

According to the study, Recreational anglers who normally fish in the Gulf of Mexico lost up to $585 million dollars from lost fishing opportunities in the year of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and could be entitled to compensation.

UF food and resource economics professor Sherry Larkin said that in the Gulf oil spill, those monies would likely not go back to individual fishermen, but instead might fund ecosystem improvements or to stock more fish in the Gulf on the fishermen’s behalf.

The study covers fishing areas off the coasts of Louisiana to Florida and up to North Carolina.

In the case of Florida, following the oil spill, fishermen who normally might have gone to Pensacola, for example, would either not fish or might instead head to the Atlantic Coast.

Researchers used an economic formula that uses the cost of accessing a recreational activity, primarily travel costs, to assess the activity’s value.

Researchers studied three types of anglers: those who fished from shore, those who piloted private or rental boats offshore and those who paid for guide boats to take them fishing.

In December 2012, BP agreed to pay $2.3 billion to commercial fishermen, seafood boat captains and crew, seafood vessel owners and oyster leaseholders, but trustees have yet to seek compensation on behalf of recreational fishermen.

The UF study is the first research study to estimate recreational fishing losses following such a large oil spill.

At 206 million gallons, the Deepwater Horizon was the largest marine oil spill in history.

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