“Damage assessment must be carried out, so as to create a basis, to demand compensation for the victims of the Oil Spill in Guimaras.”
Oil spill may have direct and indirect impact on fish and fisheries. Oil spills can cause mortality to fish and fisheries resources, particularly to fish larvae. Detrimental effects of oil spill on fisheries could include the following:
1. The effects of oil on inshore shellfish beds can be overwhelming. But impact on fishes can be limited because fish tend to swim away from the sites of oil spills and hence the long-term impacts on local populations can be avoided.
2. However, fisheries productivity can be disrupted if migration routes of fishes are altered as a result of the oil spill.
3. The sub-lethal effects of the spilled oil on fishes may be very detrimental. Even very low concentrations of oil can affect reproduction and feeding of fish and shellfish, among other organisms.
4. Fish exposed to oil can be tainted by oil-derived substances. Concentration of petroleum contaminants and its derivatives in finfish and shellfish tissues could pose a significant potential hazard to human health.
My involvement in researches dealing on oil spill and its impact on fisheries, contamination could go deeper into the tissues of food fishes that we eat, and could possibly go up in the food chain. For example, for fish tissues we have sampled in the middle-east in areas that had extensive oil spill, even after a period of nearly 8 years, concentrations of trace metals such as arsenic and mercury for demersal and reef associated species were much higher than in areas that did not experience an oil spill. I am wondering (hehehe) how much changes would there be in so far as concentrations of carcinogenic PAHs (Polyaromatic hydrocarbons) such as benz[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, and chrysene on fish tissues of fishes in Guimaras months or years after the oil spill. Sana naman magkaroon ng milagro, at walang maging ganitong kalalang impact sa yamang dagat ng Guimaras.
5. Massive spills may result in loss of fishing opportunities with boats unable to fish due to the risk of fouling. This may cause temporary financial loss to fishermen and temporary shortage of seafood supplies to the people in Guimaras.
As I said, “Damage assessment must be carried out, so as to create a basis, to demand compensation for the victims of the Oil Spill in Guimaras.”
Dito muna, more to come…