The BP Oil Spill and the No Fishing Zone — An Update

May 20, 2010

45,000 miles off limits

Clarity has been achieved, via this LA Times posting.

Federal authorities on Tuesday expanded the no fishing zone associated with the BP oil spill to encompass 19% of the Gulf of Mexico. The closure now totals 45,728 square miles, extending southeast from the blowout site in the shape of a dog leg.

So at 45,000-plus miles, the no fishing zone is ONLY twice as large as Lake Michigan.

While this is obviously less than the 6.7 times I originally estimated, it doesn’t make me feel any better.


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Posted by Mark Wegener

The BP Oil Spill and the No Fishing Zone–a comparison

May 20, 2010

No Fishing Zone as of 5/18

I’ve tried to do some quick math. The “No Fishing” zone in the Gulf of Mexico is described as “about 20% of US waters in the Gulf”. I can’t find exactly how much that is, but, the entire Gulf is 1.5 million square miles. Even if the US portion of that is only half (I suspect it’s more), that means that 150,000 sq miles are off limits to fishing. For comparison, Lake Michigan is 22,400 square miles. That’s a no fishing area 6.7 times as big as Lake Michigan. I know that doesn’t seem right as I look at these maps, so help me if I’ve screwed up.



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Posted by Mark Wegener