SPILL TOOK TOLL ON FISHERMEN, SCIENTISTS SAY

By ROSANNE PAGANO
The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE- Scientists tallying costs of the Exxon Valdez oil spill said Thursday the region's commercial fishermen were among those hardest hit, both financially and emotionally. Sociologists studying the Prince William Sound fishing community of Cordova say stress there has steadily declined over the past four years. Research shows, however, that fishermen continue to report highest levels of stress stemming from the tanker accident in 1989.

An economist also reported Thursday that the region's commercial fishermen lost at least $6 million and as much as $43 million in 1989, in part because of the accident.

Most research presented during a symposium in Anchorage focused on ocean ecology and wildlife.

J. Steven Picou, a University of Mississippi sociologist, said the Exxon Valdez oil spill trustees should consider relieving human stress as well as promoting recovery of the environment.

"All these people are not saying they're stressed just to get money out of Exxon," Picou said Thursday. "We've got to remember that in technological disasters people are the ultimate victims."

Riki Ott, a Cordova-based fishermen and environmental activist, said the stress study confirmed what some of her neighbors have experienced firsthand.

"A lot of people standing at the back of the room, listening and trying to understand what's been happening to them just went 'whew,' " she said.

Dennis Stanczuk, an Exxon spokesman who attended Picou's talk, declined comment on the study.

Picou said his findings had led Exxon lawyers to depose him in preparation for lawsuits. Some of the cases are scheduled for state court. Exxon planned to present its oil spill science at a conference in Atlanta in April.

The stress study surveyed 118 people from Cordova, 50 miles southeast of Valdez. Results were compared against responses from 73 people from the fishing community of Petersburg, 125 miles south of Juneau. Petersburg was chosen as a control group.

No oil washed up in Cordova. But fishermen there were among the most outspoken critics of Exxon's cleanup following the 11-million-gallon spill, the nation's worst.

Scientists say more than 1,000 miles of Alaska shoreline were oiled and thousands of birds and animals died after the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a charted reef.

Picou and sociologist Duane Gill said they traveled to Cordova for interviews in 1989. Follow-up surveys were done over the past three years.

Reaction ranged from intrusive stress, which caused daily reminders of the spill, to acute response linked to nightmares and sleeplessness, Picou said.

Cordova's commercial fishermen some of them third- and fourth-generation fishermen their wives and families remain most stressed, he said.

"It's the same as the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident. People closest to the reactor site displayed the greatest stress. In this case, fishermen were the ones closest to the natural resource."

Other groups reporting stress years after the spill include lawsuit plaintiffs and area businesses dependent on commercial fishing.

Economist Maurie Cohen said windfall generated by the multibillion dollar cleanup had masked a "downward realignment" in the region's commercial fishing.

Other researchers Thursday said herring spawned in oily patches of the sound were born deformed, including some that had no eyes or mouths. Steve Fried, a state commercial fisheries researcher, said except for 1989 and 1990, fishing had not been disrupted because of the spill. One study suggested herring returns since then were not as abundant.

Herring are among the sound's "cornerstone" species. They are eaten by other fish as well as migratory birds, and they are among the first lucrative commercial harvests in spring.

Cohen said it was "impossible" to blame estimated economic losses in 1989 on the oil spill alone. Shortened fishing seasons and consumer fears were a factor, he said.

But a softening market for Alaska fish in 1989 also was linked to national recession, stored inventories of fish, declining demand among Japanese speculators, and increased competition from pen-reared Atlantic Ocean salmon, Cohen said.

Cohen, who studied spill economics for doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, acknowledged the wide gap in his study's estimate of commercial fishing losses. Estimates assumed a range of blame up to 100 percent caused by the spill.

"If you're Exxon you'll claim in litigation the spill was a small event, compared to these other factors," Cohen said. "If you're on the other side, you could say otherwise."

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