Enhancing the Ocean Observing System to Meet Restoration Challenges in the Gulf of Mexico

Murawski, Steven A.; Hogarth, William T.

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2013.12

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The NC subarea had the shallowest size spectrum slope (Figure ) and the highest R (Figure ) of all subareas. Ironically, this is also the subarea in which the DWH spill occurred (Figure ), where much of the U.S. oil and gas offshore infrastructure exists (Murawski and Hogarth ; BOEM 2017), and where the highest frequency of GoM hurricane disturbance has occurred over the past 150+ years (NOAA ). In contrast, the NW subarea, although having a shallow slope for its size spectrum (Figure ), exhibited a low level of R (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, even though these subareas are adjacent, the NW subarea appears less resilient overall to the effects of pulse‐type perturbations, such as a catastrophic oil spills, primarily due to less functional redundancy in the event of the collapse of one or more important species. Like the NC subarea, a large proportion of U.S. oil and gas wells are located in the NW subarea (Murawski and Hogarth ; BOEM 2017), and therefore this subarea may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of pulse‐type perturbations. The two subareas in the SGoM had relatively steep size spectra (Figure ) and moderate levels of R (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…). Substantial “built” fish habitat, consisting mainly of oil and gas infrastructure (wells and pipelines; Murawski and Hogarth ) and other artificial habitats, exist in all subareas of the GoM except off northwest CUB.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative Abundance, Species Composition, and Demographics of Continental Shelf Fish Assemblages throughout the Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2018

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We analyzed the results of the first comprehensive, systematic, fishery-independent survey of Gulf of Mexico (GoM) continental shelves using data collected from demersal longline sampling off the United States, Mexico, and Cuba. In total, 166 species were sampled from 343 longline sets during 2011-2017, which deployed 153,146 baited hooks, catching 14,938 fish. Abundance, species richness, and Shannon-Wiener diversity indices by station were highest in mid-shelf depths (~100 m), declining by about half in deeper waters. Six spatial assemblages were identified by testing the results of cluster analysis using similarity profile analysis and then plotting the geographic location of identified station clusters. A high degree of depth-related and horizontal zonation was evident for demersal fish species. Multispecies CPUE (number per 1,000 hookhours) was highest off the north-central (NC) and northwestern (NW) GoM and lower on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), Cuba (CUB), Yucatan Peninsula (YP), and southwestern (SW) GoM. Snappers and groupers were most abundant in the WFS and CUB, while elasmobranchs were the dominant taxa in the NC and NW GoM. Pelagic species were relatively rare everywhere (owing to the use of demersal longline gear), but were most dense off CUB. Species richness was highest in the NC and WFS subareas and lowest in the NW and CUB. Slopes of multispecies size spectra, which integrated mortality, recruitment, growth, and species interactions among size-groups, were shallowest in the NW and NC GoM and steepest off the WFS and YP. These results provide a basis for evaluating the relative resiliency potential of species assemblages across the continental shelves of the GoM, and thus for identifying subareas that are most vulnerable to acute and chronic perturbations from cumulative effects of fishing, climate change, pollution (including oil spills), habitat loss, and invasive species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative Abundance, Species Composition, and Demographics of Continental Shelf Fish Assemblages throughout the Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2018

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“…Monitoring studies in the aftermath of DWH provided not only the opportunity to serendipitously sample around the Hercules 265 as part of a preplanned oceanographic cruise but additionally to gather important baseline contamination levels that were available from the vicinity of Hercules 265 with which to compare pollution levels caused by the blowout. This scenario emphasizes the importance of an ongoing ocean observing system in the GoM, including routine sampling of waters, sediments, invertebrates and fishes for oil contamination in order to understand the cumulative effects of chronic oil releases, and acute events such as the DWH [ Murawski and Hogarth , ] and Hercules 265 . The fact that the only published information with which to compare Hercules 265 effects was from a study more than two decades prior to the Hercules 265 event should serve notice that such information is seriously out of date relative to developments in the industry (e.g., deeper exploration and enhanced production).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking the Hercules 265 marine gas well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2016

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On 23 July 2013, a marine gas rig (Hercules 265) ignited in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The rig burned out of control for 2 days before being extinguished. We conducted a rapid‐response sampling campaign near Hercules 265 after the fire to ascertain if sediments and fishes were polluted above earlier baseline levels. A surface drifter study confirmed that surface ocean water flowed to the southeast of the Hercules site, while the atmospheric plume generated by the blowout was in eastward direction. Sediment cores were collected to the SE of the rig at a distance of ∼0.2, 8, and 18 km using a multicorer, and demersal fishes were collected from ∼0.2 to 8 km SE of the rig using a longline (508 hooks). Recently deposited sediments document that only high molecular weight (HMW) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations decreased with increasing distance from the rig suggesting higher pyrogenic inputs associated with the blowout. A similar trend was observed in the foraminifera Haynesina germanica, an indicator species of pollution. In red snapper bile, only HMW PAH metabolites increased in 2013 nearly double those from 2012. Both surface sediments and fish bile analyses suggest that, in the aftermath of the blowout, increased concentration of pyrogenically derived hydrocarbons was transported and deposited in the environment. This study further emphasizes the need for an ocean observing system and coordinated rapid‐response efforts from an array of scientific disciplines to effectively assess environmental impacts resulting from accidental releases of oil contaminants.

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