The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi

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In coastal areas where oil may be buried in sediment, among boulders and
imbedded in crevices in rocks, a situation with chronic oil pollution may
persist for decades and cause small to moderate effects. Many coastal areas
in the assessment area are similar in morphology to those of Prince William
Sound, where oil was trapped below the surface after the Exxon Valdez oil
spill.
In a study performed 12 years after the oil spill it was estimated how much
oil remained on the beaches of Prince William Sound. Oil was found on 78 of
91 beaches, selected randomly and according to their oiling history. The
analysis revealed that over 90% of the surface oil and all of the subsurface oil
originated from the Exxon Valdez (Short et al. 2004). Today (2010) oil still
lingers in buried patches on the affected shores, and this may represent a
source of continued exposure to oil for sea otters and birds that seek food in
sediments (NOAA 2010).
Oil may also contaminate terrestrial habitats occasionally inundated at high
water levels. Salt marshes are particularly sensitive and they represent important
feeding areas for geese. During the Braer spill in the Shetland Islands
oil-containing spray carried by wind even impacted fields and grasslands
close to the coast.
The tourism industry may be impacted by a large oil spill hitting the coasts.
Tourist travelling to Greenland to encounter the pristine, unspoilt Arctic
wilderness will most likely avoid oil-contaminated areas.
The coastal areas have been mapped and classified according to their sensitivity
to oil spills (Mosbech et al. 2000).
11.2.6 Oil spill impacts on fisheries
Tainting (unpleasant smell or taste) of fish flesh is a severe problem related
to oil spills. Fish exposed even to very low concentrations of oil in the water,
in their food or in the sediment where they live, may be tainted, leaving
them useless for human consumption (GESAMP (GESAMP 1993, Challenger
& Mauseth 2011). The problem is most pronounced in shallow waters, where
high oil concentrations can persist for longer periods. Flatfish and bottomliving
invertebrates are particularly exposed. Tainting has, however, not
been recorded in flatfish after oil spills in deeper offshore waters, where
degradation, dispersion and dilution reduce oil concentrations to very low
levels. Tainting may also occur in fish living where oil-contaminated drill
cuttings have been disposed of.
A very important issue in this context is the reputational damage an oil spill
will cause to fish products from the affected areas. It will therefore be necessary
to suspend fishery activities in an affected area, to avoid even the risk of
marketing contaminated products (Rice et al. 1996, Challenger & Mauseth
2011, Graham et al. 2011). This problem may apply to the large-scale commercial
northern shrimp and Greenland halibut fisheries within the assessment
area, as well as to the local fisheries targeting Atlantic cod, lumpsucker,
capelin, wolfish and Atlantic halibut. Large oil spills may cause
heavy economic losses due to problems arising in the marketing of the
products. Strict regulation and control of the fisheries in contaminated areas
are therefore necessary to ensure the quality of the fish available on the market.
In offshore areas suspension usually lasts some weeks and in coastal