DIVING, FISHING CHARTERS BRACE FOR OIL

DIVING, FISHING CHARTERS BRACE FOR OIL

0 Comments | Palm Beach Post, May 6, 2010 | by WILLIE HOWARD

Captains of dive boats, fishing charter boats and others whose livelihoods are tied to the ocean are bracing for the possibility of oil from the Gulf of Mexico riding currents to Florida’s east coast.

For many, watching the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon rig has been something like preparing for a hurricane: They hope the oil doesn’t come here, but they want to be prepared in case it does.

“It would put us out of business for a while,” said Shana Phelan, owner of Pura Vida Divers, noting that summer is prime time for Palm Beach County’s dive boat operators.

“The potential is really bad,” said Bill Taylor, owner of the Jupiter-based drift fishing boat Black Dog.

Taylor said he has been brushing up on his hazardous materials training and is looking for non-fishing jobs for himself and his crew members in case oil causes regulators to close area waters to fishing, as they have in parts of the gulf.

“I’m making sure I have some way of paying my bills and supporting my family,” Taylor said.

Inshore fishing guide Danny Barrow of Lantana said he is praying the oil doesn’t come here.

“Just the thought of it scares me to death,” Barrow said. “The fishing community here is so large.”

Palm Beach County is vulnerable in part because the Gulf Stream sweeps close to shore here. Easterly winds could push oil from the Gulf Stream toward our beaches and inshore estuaries, the nursery grounds for many species of fish and other marine life.

“The biggest impact might be the mangroves if it gets in the inlets,” said Ed Tichenor, director of the nonprofit group Palm Beach County Reef Rescue.

Pete Schulz, co-owner of Fishing Headquarters in Jupiter, said oil in the Atlantic could “crush” local businesses.

Schulz, chairman of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club, worries about the effect on fish — particularly inshore species such as snook and spotted sea trout whose habitat is already stressed.

Narcosis dive boat captain Van Blakeman believes the relatively deep reefs off Palm Beach County would not be harmed by oil as much as the beaches and the mangrove habitat inside the Lake Worth Lagoon.

But if officials stretch containment boom across inlets to block the oil, recreational and commercial boating could be severely restricted.

Will Beck, owner of Sea Tow Services of the Palm Beaches, said he is making other experienced boaters aware of online hazardous materials training courses in case they’re called upon to help fight an oil slick.

If oil does reach Palm Beach County, Beck said, the trained personnel and equipment needed to fight it probably will be spread out around the state, from the Keys to the Panhandle. Beck already has sent some of his employees to work on the cleanup in the gulf.

“Resources are going to be stretched thin,” Beck said
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