A study of the temporal changes in offshore macrofauna in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the development of the offshore oil industry

Abstract

From the Abstract: “Data taken in the Northern Gulf of Mexico by the M/V Oregon [Bureau of Commercial Fisheries] and chartered vessels during the period in which the offshore oil industry was developed in Southern Louisiana were used in an effort to detect changes in macrofaunal attributable to this buildup of estuarine and offshore oil drilling and production..” From the Conclusions: “No correlations could be demonstrated between macrofauna populations and oil related activites in the time period and area covered in this study. Season or ‘natural variability’ best correlates with the data.”