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Abstract The 2010Deepwater Horizon(DwH) disaster challenged the integrity of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) large‐marine ecosystem at unprecedented scales, prompting concerns of devastating injury for GOM fisheries in the post‐spill decade. Following the catastrophe, projected economic losses for regional commercial, recreational, and mariculture sectors for the decade after oiling were US$3.7–8.7 billion overall, owing to the vulnerability of economically prized, primarily nearshore taxa that support fishing communities. State and federal fisheries data during 2000–2017 indicated that GOM fishery sectors appeared to serve as remarkable anchors of resilience following the largest accidental marine oil spill in human history. Evidence of post‐disaster impacts on fisheries economies was negligible. Rather, GOM commercial sales during 2010–2017 were US$0.8–1.5 billion above forecasts derived using pre‐spill (2000–2009) trajectories, while pre‐ and post‐spill recreational fishery trends did not differ appreciably. No post‐spill shifts in target species or effort distribution across states were apparent to explain these findings. Unraveling the mechanisms for this unforeseen stability represents an important avenue for understanding the vulnerability or resilience of human–natural systems to future disturbances. FollowingDwH, the causes for fishery responses are likely multifaceted and complex (including exogenous economic forces that typically affect fisheries‐dependent data), but appear partially explained by the relative ecological stability of coastal fishery assemblages despite widespread oiling, which has been corroborated by multiple fishery‐independent surveys across the northern GOM. Additionally, we hypothesize that damage payments to fishermen led to acquisition or retooling of commercial fisheries infrastructure, and subsequent rises in harvest effort. Combined, these social–ecological dynamics likely aided recovery of stressed coastal GOM communities in the years afterDwH, although increased fishing pressure in the post‐spill era may have consequences for future GOM ecosystem structure, function, and resilience.
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Ecosystem response persists after a prolonged marine heatwave
Abstract Some of the longest and most comprehensive marine ecosystem monitoring programs were established in the Gulf of Alaska following the environmental disaster of the Exxon Valdez oil spill over 30 years ago. These monitoring programs have been successful in assessing recovery from oil spill impacts, and their continuation decades later has now provided an unparalleled assessment of ecosystem responses to another newly emerging global threat, marine heatwaves. The 2014–2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave (PMH) in the Gulf of Alaska was the longest lasting heatwave globally over the past decade, with some cooling, but also continued warm conditions through 2019. Our analysis of 187 time series from primary production to commercial fisheries and nearshore intertidal to offshore oceanic domains demonstrate abrupt changes across trophic levels, with many responses persisting up to at least 5 years after the onset of the heatwave. Furthermore, our suite of metrics showed novel community-level groupings relative to at least a decade prior to the heatwave. Given anticipated increases in marine heatwaves under current climate projections, it remains uncertain when or if the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem will return to a pre-PMH state.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1656070
- PAR ID:
- 10217921
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2045-2322
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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