Sick, deformed fish spotted after BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill

This 2012 photo shows a fish harvested from the Gulf of Mexico with unusual lesions and infections. / AP/Steven Murawski

(CBS/AP) BARATARIA BAY, La. - Two years after the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, scientists say they're finding trouble with sick fish that dwell along offshore reefs and in the deep waters - especially in places where the oil spill hit the hardest.

The scientists are unsure what's causing a small percentage of the fish they're catching to have large open sores and strange black streaks. The biggest question is whether contaminants from the BP spill are causing the problems.

According to a lengthy report by Al-Jazeera English, Gulf Coast fishermen as well as scientists have found "disturbing numbers of mutated shrimp, crab and fish."

Tracy Kuhns, a commercial fisher, told Al-Jazeera, "At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds" of eyeless shrimp.

A seafood processor told the network that shrimp numbers are down and that shrimp are "immune compromised" and being found with "tumors on their heads."

BP claims that seafood in the area remains safe.

"Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is among the most tested in the world, and, according to the FDA and NOAA, it is as safe now as it was before the accident," BP told Al-Jazeera in a statement.

Scientists say the fish illnesses don't pose an increased health threat to humans and can't say for sure if the spill is the cause or even if the number of sick fish is normal. The illnesses, however, could be devastating to prized species and the people who make their living catching them.

On Wednesday, BP and attorneys for more than 100,000 people in the region proposed a $7.8 billion class-action settlement to a federal judge to resolve claims spawned by the 2010 spill. It will likely be one of the largest class-action settlements ever.

[RoedyGreen]

The key fact that gets overlooked in every oil spill debate is that even under the best conditions once the oil hits the water, the best recovery rate you can expect is 3 to 5%. Cleanup is thus more for PR than an effective remedy.

[KatPet13]

"Safe" by whose standards?
PS. Get Paid Daily! Onepennybillionaire.com/kathipeters

[morainiac]

The previous comment is referring to this earlier comment:
by Rational_Reality April 19, 2012 4:15 PM EDT

Now American Liberal "Lame Stream" Media is taking stories from Al-Jazeera? a anti-American pro-Arab propaganda media machine chartered to spread mis-information about the morally bankrupt Western Life Style and its downfall caused by personal freedoms, individual property rights and capitalism.... Of course they're a legitimate "news" just like the Huffington Post, MSNBC, Media Matters. LOL

[morainiac]

You've never watched it so you're opinion is meaningless. Just keep sticking to the FOXtards. They make things easy enough for a first grader to grasp.
People who are science challenged are blissfully ignorant to the consequences of using the ocean as our toilet bowl. Kill the oceans and our atmosphere is destroyed. No more oxygen, rain, or sustainable life as we know it. Those who don't know this basic fact must have flunked out of third grade biology. Dee De Dee.

[stevador39]

The oceans are being stripped of life. Imported seafood has been repeatedly found to be corrupted with toxins. Seafood from the Gulf not only comes from the massive BP spill, but reports reveal there are 27,000 leaking old oil and gas drilling sites.

[dj_chi]

Well, if BP got scientists to say the fish are safe, then I guess they're safe. Who am I to question BP's scientists.

[RichZubaty]

"Harvest" is something you do to something you have planted. "Kill" is something you do to something wild. They don't "harvest" fish. They KILL them, with petroleum and with nets. Save the fish!

[makeinu]

verb (used with object)
9. to catch, take, or remove for use: Fishermen harvested hundreds of salmon from the river.

Dictionaries are your friends.

[trglazier]

The Gulf has been a cesspool of pollutants and dea.th for decades. The petrochemical industry has failed the commercial and sport fishermen in that region and now they want to spoil the rest of the Americas waters. Stay away from Oregon!
When the commercial tells you to "come on down" they leave out the fact that their beaches are ruined and their seafood is poisoned. Thanks BP!

[MickKegeon]

"disturbing numbers of mutated shrimp, crab and fish." Its called EVOLUTION you Godless heathens.

[Dead_Mariner]

Umm no, it's not. It's called forced mutation. Evolution is a much slower process, you ignorant imbecile.

[kbrum1066]

Like most "science" stories, this one lacks facts and real information. WHile there are cases of this, there are no direct links to the oil spill itself.
From my perspective, it could be something used by the oil companies or the US government to clean up the spill, it could be from a buildup of chemicals from the Mississippi River over the years, if could be a new disease spread through "globalization" (similar to the White-nose Syndrome attacking the bat population or Sudden Oak Death Syndrome), or any other number of things.
Obviously if there is a bias against oil to start with, then that will be what they claim. I am not saying that it is NOT the result of the oil spill, just that anyone with an open mind and the ability to think logically will consider other possibilities.

[Overruled1]

You're blind to the truth.
BP acted criminally and nobody has yet been charged for the deaths of the workers on the Deepocean Horizon while celebrating getting away with breaking the safety rules and violating EPA restrictions.