NW Fishermen Say "Don't Let an Oil Spill Happen Here"

SEATTLE (KPLU) - Several Northwest fishermen say they're having deja vu watching the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Those who felt the impact of the Exxon Valdez spill more than 20 years ago say it's crucial not to allow a similar disaster here.

Pete Knutson's heart goes out to the fishermen in Gulf Coast communities being damaged by the oil gushing from BP's Deepwater Horizon blow-out. Knutson and his son fish in Puget Sound and Southeast Alaska. While his fishing grounds weren't oiled by the Exxon Valdez in 1989, he says the accident led overseas buyers to avoid Alaska fish for fear they were contaminated.

"We lost about 75 percent of the value of our product from 1989 into the early 90s," he says. "When the buyers pulled out, the price collapsed. And it never really recovered until just recently, it started inching back up."

Knutson says he painfully remembers the impact the event had on men who were his friends.

"Many of those guys live in Valdez or they're based out of (Seattle's) Fishermen's Terminal. And they're gone. They're gone out of the fishery. It destroyed their whole fishing career."

Knutson is one of several Northwest fishermen who's sounding the alarm about the costs of a large-scale oil spill.

Riki Ott is a marine toxicologist and commercial fisher who was directly affected by the Exxon Valdez spill. She's skeptical of claims by BP that the oil company will compensate communities harmed by the current spill in the Gulf of Mexico. She says bitter experience with fighting legal battles with Exxon in Alaska tells her what residents of the Gulf Coast are facing.

"What it means is, literally, potentially decades of fighting in court over what is and what isn't a legitimate claim, while fishermen and local community businesses go bankrupt."

Ott, Knudson and others spoke at an event sponsored by the Seattle-based environmental group Climate Solutions. They called on lawmakers to back tougher regulation of the oil industry and support measures to move away from fossil fuels.

In a related development, senators from California, Oregon and Washington - including Senator Maria Cantwell - have announced a bill to prohibit oil drilling off the West Coast.