BP Oil Spill has a Silver Lining

It is often said that all bad things have a hidden Silver Lining. For the BP Gulf Oil Spill, it is the Fishing Moratorium that provides such a benefit. With so much fishing pressure and stiff regulations in the Gulf, how else can the fish be given a chance to recoup? Especially the American Red Snapper which has had it's recreational fishing season cut down to 2 months out of the year. Also, Grouper are some of the easiest fish to catch and tend to dissapear shortly after showing up on the reefs. Since Scuba Diving is still allowed in the Spill Zone, this video shows the benefits and recouperative powers of these important Gulf Species. This dive was conducted on July 10, 2010 at the Gerald Corcoran Reef (also known as the Linda Susan Tug Boat) in MGFB's (Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks) FH-13 (Fish Haven # 13). This 145' River Tug was deployed on June 24, 2006 as part of the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Instead of scrapping this Hurricane Damaged Vessel, it was donated by National Fisheries Restoration and deployed as a fishing reef in 86' of water at 29°59.5'N 88°30.6'W. The benefits shown in this video are obvious. Several visits have been made since her deployment and there is a significant increase in the fish population this year which is attributed as a result of the fishing closures. While many are angry with the closures (including myself) they are providing a much needed relief to the fish population. Hopefully, when the waters are once again opened, the fishing will be better than it has ever been in recent memories. I, for one, plan to make the best of a bad situation and enjoy the fantastic scuba diving brought about by this rare situation. Visit primofish-com if you would like to visit this reef with me.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• BP
• Oil Spill
• Gulf Oil Spill
• BP Oil Spill
• Fish
• Diving
• Scuba Diving
• MGFB
• Reef
• Fishing
• Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks
• Mississippi
• MS
• Linda Susan
• Gerald Corcoran
• FH-13
• red snapper
• gag grouper
• grouper
• Tug Boat
• Gulf of Mexico
• gulf

[hwkeye54]

You cannot tell me the majority of these fish have all hatched since the oil spill. I'm no expert on Red Snapper, but I do know they're an egg-laying fish so they would probably be about the size of your hand at best by now. A little research shows that at an age of 1 year, the average size of red snapper, unsexed, is about 170mm (or 6.75"). More than likely the explanation of their increased presence on the rigs is that they're congregating in larger schools around structures in search of food.

[MarkPrimo]

@hwkeye54 I certainly am not saying any of these fish have hatched since the spill. What I am saying is that because of the fishing closures, the lack of fishing pressure has resulted in more fish populating the reefs. Particularly Groupers and Snappers are much more abundant. Now that the fishing is open again, we are reaping the silver lining by catching more and bigger fish. See my latest videos from 9-11-2010. Your last sentence is absolutely correct.

[theslammagforum]

Good video. But your assumption is dead wrong. Snapper were doing fine to begin with. It was shitty NMFS math that makes ya think they were in decline.

BP's fuck up will NOT help.

[MarkPrimo]

@theslammagforum You can't tell me that lack of fishing pressure will not help the fish population. That assumption is dead wrong. I am not making an assumption, these are observations made after years of diving and I have the video to back it up. I am not making any statements about whether or not limits are needed. I am saying that the current lack of pressure is creating a "Silver Lining" in that the fish populations have drastically increased.

[beanathen1976]

i agree with slamma, I've been spearfishing for years on the rigs off the LA and MS coast and the snapper and AJ's are thick under there. It's crazy the limits that have been put on them because they are everywhere.