Gulf ‘dead zone’ predicted to set a record

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jul 16, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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This year’s “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is predicted to be 8,800 square miles, the largest recorded in history, scientists with LSU and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.

Scientists have been measuring the dead zone, or hypoxia, in the Gulf since 1985.

Hypoxia, low oxygen water that cannot support marine life, forms each summer when nutrients and nitrogen from fertilizer or urban runoff get into the Mississippi River.

LSU scientist R. Eugene Turner said this year’s record “dead zone,” which is roughly the size of New Jersey, is in large part due to nitrogen leaking into the Mississippi from a huge increase in corn planting.

The recent increase in corn crops is due to the nation’s increased efforts to find alternative fuel resources, such as corn-powered ethanol, he said.

The nitrogen from fertilizer leaks into the river, which then flows into the Gulf, Turner said.

Turner also said hypoxia can  affect the fishing industry in south Louisiana.

Because fish and shrimp cannot live in the “dead zone,” fisherman have to go farther out and to different places to find living fish, Turner said.

That increased exploration costs the fishing industry more money in fuel and the cost of fuel right now is at a record high.

“So the potential catch goes down but we don’t really know how much,” Turner said.

The scientists’ forecast was released Tuesday during a midday telephone news conference. It is based on a mathematical model developed by LSU through NOAA research.

The largest “dead zone” on record was in 2002 with a measurement of 8,481 square miles, according to a NOAA news release.

In 2007, the dead zone was 7,903 square miles. Turner has said that the average size of the dead zone since 1990 has been 6,046 square miles.