One year after DH oil spill, fish as bioindicators

[MathGeek]

The picture above is my sons and I with a big drum. During our trip to Louisiana last year, Joshua (younger son) collected data for his science fair project, "Condition Indexes of Fish as Bioindicators One Year After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill." Joshua weighed and measured over 500 fish in the Lafourche and Calcasieu areas and compared the actual fish weights with the expected weights (long term Louisiana averages) to determine the impact of the oil spill in the Lafourche area and the impact of increased oystering, crabbing, and shrimping pressure in the Calcasieu area.

Joshua's science fair project won Grand Champion at his school, Grand Champion at the Pikes Peak Regional Science fair, and first place in Environmental Sciences at the Colorado State Science Fair. His mother and I are very proud of him. He is an avid fisherman and aspiring fisheries scientist.