Proof of Concept for Platform Recruited Fish, Phase 1: Do Platforms Provide Habitat for Subadult Red Snapper

摘要

There are currently over 3,500 oil and gas structures in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). Platform operations and their prior drilling operations produce trace amounts of lead, barium, vanadium, and lanthanum residues that are leached into the surrounding waters and are deposited on the sea floor. These residues have isotopic ratios different from those typical of the Gulf seafloor and can be used as markers if they become incorporated into hard-parts, such as otoliths, of fishes associated with oil and gas platforms. These markers are harmless because they occur at extremely low concentrations and are bound to the inedible otolith, or ear bone, of the fish. From 2002 to 2004, 115 red snapper were collected from oil and gas platforms and artificial reefs off Louisiana and Alabama. Otoliths were removed and analyzed from 98 of those collected using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The objective of this study was to determine if a trace element isotope ratio fingerprint could be detected and described as unique to red snapper inhabiting the platforms. Stepwise and canonical discriminant function analyses were used to compare red snapper otolith fingerprints from on and off platforms, and from east and west of the Mississippi River.