Publication Abstract

Responding to the Sea Empress oil spill

D.R.P. Leonard, R. J. Law and C.A. Kelly

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) is a government department which has responsibility in England and in Wales (acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Wales) for controlling deposits in the sea, including approving the use of dispersants in oil spill response. MAFF also has responsibility in relation to the management of sustainable commercial fish and shellfish fisheries. Following the grounding of the tanker Sea Empress on 15 February 1996, over 72,000 tonnes of crude oil and bunker fuel was lost. This paper summarises the involvement of MAFF staff in the response phase, and in the subsequent assessment of the environmental impact of the oil spill and the associated clean up operations on commercial fisheries. After two and a half years of environmental monitoring and complementary research, it is concluded that the oil spill has had an insignificant impact on these fisheries beyond their closure during the incident response phase. Suggestions for further work are discussed.

Reference:

D.R.P. Leonard, R. J. Law and C.A. Kelly 1999 .Responding to the Sea Empress oil spill. pp177-182 In: IAEA. Marine Pollution. Proceedings of IAEA Symposium on Marine Pollution, Monaco, 5-9 October 1998