July 16, 2010

 

 

Mexico has made contingency plans for the possible scenario that the disastrous oil spill off the US shores would reach its waters, the country's aquaculture commissioner said on Monday (Jul 12).

 

Ramon Corral Avila, head of the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fishing, said that Mexico is totally ready. "We have plans, strategies through the Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Food Ministry, as well as with other bodies responsible for protecting the environment in our country."

 

The Mexican authorities believe that the winter flows will bring part of the spill to Mexican coasts, said Corral.

 

"Probably at the last quarter of the year we will see the first effects in northeastern Mexico, and then from there the flow will go back to the Atlantic," he added.

 

Noting that the 85-day-old gusher has caused massive damage along the US coast, he said the Mexican authorities "think that the effect in the Gulf of Mexico will be negative."

 

The government is very much concerned with the spill's possible impacts on the fish population and coastal species in the "red zone," he added.

 

The areas exposed to the risk have an output value of more than US$400 million, with the shrimp industry counting for about 40%, he said.

 

The National Institute of Fishery has carried out an assessment of possible impacts, and the government has also made an action plan for the fishery sector.

 

Under the contingency plan, in addition to continuous monitoring, the navy and the state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos will have training in detecting hydrocarbons and reducing the damage to the minimum, Corral said.

 

The leak, regarded as the biggest environmental disaster in the US history, began after a Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of litres of oil have spewed into the sea.