How BP Gulf Oil Spill Affected and Threatens Oysters Reefs in Marine Ecosystem

The Gulf oil spill threatens oysters marine ecosystem as the massive oil slick from the ruptured undersea wellhead of Deepwater Horizon drilling rig make’s it’s way to the Louisiana coastline. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Mobilizes Wildlife Rescue Teams. However there are limitations as to just what can be done to save oysters. 

Oysters are more than a menu item they are a critical part of the marine ecosystem of the gulf coast. The extent of the oil spill is highlighted as the Oil Spill Closes Gulf Fishing oysters however are perhaps the most vulnerable marine creatures threatened by the oil spill. It should not be underestimated the roll oysters play with the marine food chain, including shrimp and crabs.

Oysters play an integral part of a marine ecosystem. They provide and sustain reefs, filter water and are members of the food chain. They are also vulnerable to changes in the environment. You may not read about the oyster environmentally too often because they don’t provide the buzz clips that are a bird or dolphin can. However oyster reefs have declined by around 85 percent over the last thirty years. Due to natural disaster and human coastal developments around the world oysters natural environments have been devastated globally. 

Nature Conservancy ‘Shellfish at risk report’ in 2009 spoke of the decimation of the world’s oyster beds. “Once dominant features in many temperate estuaries around the world, native oyster reefs are critically important ecologically and economically. Centuries of intensive fisheries extraction exacerbated by more recent coastal degradation have put oyster reefs near or past the point of functional extinction globally.” 

In America Chesapeake Bay is famous for it’s shellfish and crabs. Astonishingly it has seen almost its entire oyster beds vanish, 99 percent according to Nature Conservancy’s Mike Beck. Beck sees the Gulf Coast as the world's 'last, best' chance for maintaining a healthy natural oystery. This is why this spill is so critical as the Gulf region still maintains over 50 percent of its oyster reefs. 

The oyster’s marine ecosystem is an integral part of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Oysters form reefs built over thousands of years, not unlike live coral reefs. The U.S. Gulf region houses the world's last intact network of oyster reefs. These reefs provide home and sanctuary for oysters  and for a multitude of interactive marine species. Oysters filter water for their own existence; in a reef this has the affect of taking filtering water for what ever lays beyond, in this case the wetlands of the Gulf Coast. They act to improve the habitat for all animals in the ecosystem including turtles, fish, crabs and birds. This also makes them particularly vulnerable to the oil spill, which literally has the potential to choke the life out of them. 

There is also the benefit that comes from the oyster reefs proximity to land. On the gulf coast this is particularly pertinent given the frequency of hurricanes in the region. Oyster reefs form nature breakwaters that help protect the coastal area from storm surges. This also helps beach erosion and acts like a protective wall for the fragile wetlands and it’s unique animal Microsystems. Thus it helps insulate habitats many of nature’s perils. They are feeding grounds when the reefs are below water for marine life and at low tide for birdlife.

Oysters spread by what is none as a ‘spat’. The spat is where billions of tiny baby oysters are released into the ocean. There are the size of specks and drift until they settle on a reef where they will spend the rest of their life and develop into fully-grown oysters. Unfortunately adding to oysters woes the oil spill has occurred right with the peak season for the oyster spat. What already a difficult process for the baby oysters just got infinitely worse. 

Oysters are effectively the front line to the oil spill as it meanders onshore. Nature will play its hand here, will the weather and seas help turn the spill around or make it more potent? There is the potential for the oil spill to be greater than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

Environmentally the oil spill may be devastating to the marine ecosystem on the coast. It could also be devastating economically. Fishermen in the region have already been affected with the oil spill closing off fishing. Given the significance of oysters in the marine ecosystem it is safe to say the Gulf’s oyster beds are critical to all of the commercial and recreational fishing industry in the region.

The U.S. Gulf Coast accounts for 70 percent of a U.S. oyster harvest that was valued at $131.6 million in 2008. Much of the oyster reefs along the coast have had containment booms set up around them. The success of these really depends on the seas not becoming too big before the oil can be broken down and removed.

The Gulf oil spill threatens oysters marine ecosystem, which in turn threatens the whole economic and environmental health of the coastal states. Jamie Rappaport Clark, the executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife and a former head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said 'It is not only the economic engine of this region, it is a real indicator of the environmental and ecological health of the Gulf Coast area.'