Atlantic Coast drilling would be bad for business

Last week, the Trump administration announced it would begin taking the next steps towards exploring for oil off the Atlantic Coast of the United States.

I am an angler and sportsman, and my customers are anglers and sportsmen. My business and my customers' businesses will be hit hard if the exploration and drilling for oil off the Atlantic Coast goes forward. But it is not just angling that is at risk, the entire coastal economy and way of life is under threat.

Here's why: To find oil under the ocean floor, ships towing arrays of seismic airguns send blasts of noise into the water. These blasts of sound are the second loudest man-made noise in the ocean. The exploration under consideration would create a constant barrage up and down the East Coast; dynamite-like blasts every ten seconds for weeks to months on end.

Studies have shown that this type of disturbance can decrease catch rates of commercial fish species by an average of 50 percent over thousands of square miles. Further, these blasts are known to harm marine mammals and other species that are vital to a healthy ecosystem. We all like whales, dolphins and turtles, but what most concerns me are the fish.

Nobody has any idea how seismic airgun blasting will affect the forage fish, herring, shad, menhaden and others, which spawn in the rivers and estuaries all along the East Coast. As these species leave their spawning grounds, like the Chesapeake Bay, they become part of the food chain for the great pelagic species like Atlantic bluefin tuna, blue marlin and others. Seismic airgun blasting disturbing that migration would be disastrous to both the recreational and commercial fishing industries.