WASHINGTON - A federal analysis shows that last year's BP oil spill probably won't push the troubled bluefin tuna population in the Gulf of Mexico population over the edge as some scientists had worried.
Scientists had been most concerned about how the oil spill would harm an already overfished species of large tuna. That's because satellite records show that about one-fifth of the spawning habitat where the Gulf's baby tuna were living was coated with oil. Tuna less than a year old are most vulnerable to pollution.
The analysis says that at most, such a spill probably would result in a 4 per cent reduction in future spawning of the fish, but probably far less.
Bluefish tuna is considered among the Gulf's signature species.
A summit that begins Monday in Houston will examine the Gulf's health.
