The story the last couple of days is that the damage wrought by the oil that for 86 days boiled out of the seafloor into the Gulf of Mexico may have been over-hyped by the media.
Setting aside the issue of how you over-hype 92 million gallons, it's a little early for high fives.
I'm willing to be optimistic. I believe in the resiliency of Mother Earth, and I'd like to think that oil is dissolving at the same time it is being consumed by bacteria in the warm waters of the gulf, both entirely plausible scenarios.
But there is a lot at stake here, and until there is no sign of oil in the gulf or along the shore, we must remain entirely focused and 100 percent committed to cleaning it up.
Fact is, if all the oil disappeared tomorrow, fishermen would nonetheless face low prices and a skeptical public as a result of the spill and concerns about pollution. Moreover, we don't know yet the extent of damage to marine and wetland wildlife or what kind of petro-time bombs are ticking within the 2010 year-class of gulf species.
The last thing we need is President Obama and the head of BP patting each other on the back for a job well done and riding off into the sunset.
For that matter, it will be some time before we can say the leak is plugged forever. Until then, as the page one editor liked to warn us on the Boston Globe's night desk, "Don't get comfortable."
Thank you for your time.
Jerry Fraser
Editor & Publisher, National Fisherman
www.nationalfisherman.com
