569
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. A. Murawski et al. (eds.), Deep Oil Spills,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_33
Chapter 33
Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
on Human Communities: Catch
and Economic Impacts
Christa Court, Alan Wade Hodges, Kara Coffey, Cameron H. Ainsworth,
and David Yoskowitz
Abstract Economic activity associated with commercial and recreational fisheries in
the northern Gulf of Mexico can be dampened when there are significant impacts to the
biophysical environment and human communities due to natural or man- made disaster
events. Due to its size and scope, the Deepwater Horizon incident caused extensive
damage to marine and shoreline habitats, affecting activity in both the commercial and
recreational fishing industries. The impacts on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem during
and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are well documented but it is also critical to
evaluate impacts on economic activity in sectors that are reliant on this ecosystem. This
chapter details estimates of the changes in economic activity supported by commercial
and recreational fisheries in the U.S. regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico due to the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Estimates are based upon biophysical model projections
from the Atlantis model for scenarios that represent conditions with the oil spill and the
counterfactual without the oil spill modeled over a 10-year time horizon, and regional
economic impact analysis methods. Results indicate that the total economic impacts
for the period 2010–2020 of foregone commercial fishing revenues and recreational
fishing expenditures as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are a loss of over
25,000 jobs, $2.3 billion in industry output, $1.2 billion in total value added or gross
regional product, $700 million in labor income, $160 million in state and local tax
revenues, and $160 million in federal tax revenues.
Keywords Ecosystem services · Atlantis · Fisheries modeling · Economic impact
C. Court (*) · A. W. Hodges
University of Florida, Food and Resource Economics Department, Gainesville, FL, USA
e-mail: ccourt@ufl.edu; awhodges@ufl.edu
K. Coffey · D. Yoskowitz
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies,
Corpus Christi, TX, USA
e-mail: kara.coffey@tamucc.edu; david.yoskowitz@tamucc.edu
C. H. Ainsworth
University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
e-mail: ainsworth@usf.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. A. Murawski et al. (eds.), Deep Oil Spills,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_33
Chapter 33
Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
on Human Communities: Catch
and Economic Impacts
Christa Court, Alan Wade Hodges, Kara Coffey, Cameron H. Ainsworth,
and David Yoskowitz
Abstract Economic activity associated with commercial and recreational fisheries in
the northern Gulf of Mexico can be dampened when there are significant impacts to the
biophysical environment and human communities due to natural or man- made disaster
events. Due to its size and scope, the Deepwater Horizon incident caused extensive
damage to marine and shoreline habitats, affecting activity in both the commercial and
recreational fishing industries. The impacts on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem during
and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are well documented but it is also critical to
evaluate impacts on economic activity in sectors that are reliant on this ecosystem. This
chapter details estimates of the changes in economic activity supported by commercial
and recreational fisheries in the U.S. regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico due to the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Estimates are based upon biophysical model projections
from the Atlantis model for scenarios that represent conditions with the oil spill and the
counterfactual without the oil spill modeled over a 10-year time horizon, and regional
economic impact analysis methods. Results indicate that the total economic impacts
for the period 2010–2020 of foregone commercial fishing revenues and recreational
fishing expenditures as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are a loss of over
25,000 jobs, $2.3 billion in industry output, $1.2 billion in total value added or gross
regional product, $700 million in labor income, $160 million in state and local tax
revenues, and $160 million in federal tax revenues.
Keywords Ecosystem services · Atlantis · Fisheries modeling · Economic impact
C. Court (*) · A. W. Hodges
University of Florida, Food and Resource Economics Department, Gainesville, FL, USA
e-mail: ccourt@ufl.edu; awhodges@ufl.edu
K. Coffey · D. Yoskowitz
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies,
Corpus Christi, TX, USA
e-mail: kara.coffey@tamucc.edu; david.yoskowitz@tamucc.edu
C. H. Ainsworth
University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
e-mail: ainsworth@usf.edu