Fish living near offshore oil platforms are just as sick as fish in highly polluted areas close to point sources at the coast, a team of Norwegian and Swedish scientists conclude in a study published this week.

“Our results show that effects from oil production at sea must be taken into account in the assessments of threats to fish stocks, just like overfishing, climate change and eutrophication,” said Lennart Balk, one of the authors, in a statement.

The researchers studied the health of cod and haddock in two areas of the North Sea with varying intensity in oil production, and compared these results with an area in the North sea without oil drilling and an area near Iceland.

Enzymes, antioxidants, fatty acids and DNA in the fish were most affected in the area where oil production was most intense.

The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE.

Axel Naver

Reference: Balk L, Hylland K, Hansson T, Berntssen MHG, Beyer J, et al. (2011) Biomarkers in Natural Fish Populations Indicate Adverse Biological Effects of Offshore Oil Production. PLoS ONE 6(5): e19735. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019735

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