The environmental effects of the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill are sure to be widespread. Environmental agencies and interest groups are already mobilizing to try to contain the oil as best they can.
At best, they will be able to keep the oil off the coast and contained in the gulf. However, it is much more likely that the spread will continue. And, in the worst case, it will start to spread up the East Coast.
Despite the wide-ranging implications that are unavoidable, the hardest-hit area will be Louisiana. Many of Louisiana’s largest industries are already feeling the damage from this spill (at the time of this writing, a month ago), and it will only get worse as time goes on.
This article will explore which industries are most at risk.
Industries at risk
shrimpers: Shrimping has been a Louisiana mainstay since before the 19th century. They have a long and well-established tradition. Unfortunately, one of the first industries to panic was the shrimp industry. They realized the fragility of the ecosystem surrounding their cash crop and understood that the oil would be devastating. This fact was so widely recognized that the state declared an emergency shrimping season a few days after the spill, knowing that all shrimpers would need to harvest something to sustain themselves for months and even years to come.
oyster farmers: Roughly 4,800 jobs in Louisiana are based on oyster farming, and now they’re all in jeopardy. Like shrimp fishing, oyster farming is largely done through mariculture, which means farming from the sea.
Other fishing companies: With the ocean so abundant and so close, Los Angeles has come to rely heavily on all the fishing industries. This includes other lesser known companies.
Louisiana tourism industries: The tourism industry is a vast network of travel agencies, reservation networks, hotels, tour guides and more. Every piece of that elaborate chain will begin to suffer as more and more people avoid the oil-ridden waters off the coast of Louisiana. This will even affect nearby cities if the fumes start to seep beyond the shorelines.
Beachfront Properties and Real Estate: Property value of Los Angeles waterfront real estate isn’t just in short-term trouble, the entire real estate industry will have to change and evolve depending on how long the cleanup takes and how deep-seated the effects are environment of the spill.
boat operators: There are many reasons to own and operate a boat in Louisiana, whether for excursions, guiding, fishing, or recreation. All those owners will have to carefully monitor the damage their boats take and narrow down where and when they can go out on the water.
oil industry workers: It can be easy to think of oil industry workers as “the enemy” right now, but they’re just people trying to make an honest living. The severe backlash from this incident is likely to jeopardize many of the oil initiatives in Los Angeles and potentially reduce available jobs.
restorers: Many restaurants in Louisiana are based on seafood. They have long relied on nearby fish resources to keep their population fresh and delicious. Not only are restaurant owners going to suffer from the lack of stocks and rising import prices, but also all the people who work in those restaurants and the people who work in the fish “pipeline” that keeps the supply satisfying the demand.
Transcendence
As you can imagine, the industries described here are not an exhaustive list of all those that will be affected. Only time will reveal how many individuals and industries will have to change drastically to survive (and how many will not survive at all).