Oral history project to document oil spill impact

University of Southern Mississippi Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage interviews with Gulf Coast marine harvesters affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill are included in an initiative supported with funding by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA’s DWH Oral History Project documents the experience of people living in Gulf of Mexico DWH oil-spill-affected fishing communities. The oral history data complements other social and economic data about the spill collected by NOAA and other governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations.

NOAA social scientists will use these data to help them determine the factors and conditions that affect the ability of Gulf of Mexico commercial and recreational marine harvesters, and supporting shore side businesses, to adapt to any DWH oil-disaster-induced changes to the local marine and human environments....