Duke University study shows Gulf dead zone increases the price of shrimp

A recent study by Duke University found that the annual dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is driving up the price of shrimp harvested from the Gulf.

The study was published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study found that the dead zone drives up the price of large shrimp relative to smaller sizes, causing economic ripples that can affect consumers, fishermen and seafood markets alike provides – its the first evidence linking Gulf hypoxia to economic impacts.

The study shows how seasonal hypoxia off the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts drives monthly fluctuations in market prices in the Gulf brown shrimp fishery, a major fishery that was once the most valuable in America.

Past efforts to track this type of market impact have failed because research focused on changes in the quantities of shrimp during hypoxic events rather than pricing fluctuations.

Researchers said the finding can help economists and policymakers quantify the market value of nutrient pollution in our oceans.

The Gulf dead zone forms each spring and summer off the Louisiana and Texas coast when oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters.

The zone is caused by nitrates and nitrogen from fertilizer and urban runoff flowing down the Mississippi River.

The amount of nitrogen entering the Gulf of Mexico each spring has increased by about 300 percent since the 1960s, mainly due to increased agricultural runoff.

The largest hypoxic zone measured to date occurred in 2002 and encompassed more than 8,400 square miles.

http://live.oysterradio.com/