The South-West Wales coast supports a breeding colony of the grey seal Halichoerus grypus. Seals are very vulnerable with respect to oil pollution in that they have to spend much of their time at the surface of the water. They need to surface every few minutes to breath. They regularly haul out on to beaches. During the course of an oil pollution incident they are at risk both when surfacing and when hauling out. The Sea Empress ran aground close to the Pembrokeshire seal breeding area, but fortunately, the spill took place at a time when last year's pups and many adults were widely dispersed. Therefore the grey seal population appeared little affected and impacts to subtidal wildlife were limited.
The South-West Wales region is also frequented by common porpoises Phocoena phocoena and bottle-nosed dolphins Tursiops truncatus. The impacts of the oil and chemical pollution on these species remains unknown. Significant numbers of both species, however, were sighted within the waters of the Skomer Marine Nature Reserve during spring and summer of 1996.
The rich and productive waters off the coast of southwest Wales support thriving populations of ecologically and economically important shellfish and fish. Rocky shores are colonised by the edible periwinkle Littorina littorea and the edible blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Subtidal kelp forests on rocky coasts support large populations of the edible crab Cancer pagurus and the lobster Homarus vulgaris. The crawfish Palinurus vulgaris is also harvested. Beds of cockles and oysters support significant fisheries within Milford Haven and the large estuaries of Carmarthen Bay.
Over recent years an important offshore fishery has developed for whelks which are exported to the Far East. With respect to fish, herring are usually caught within Milford Haven at this time of year. There are also substantial offshore fisheries for rays, flatfish and sea bass. Migratory sea fish such as salmon and sea trout pass through the area on their way to the rivers of Carmarthen Bay.
The Sea Empress oil spill presented very considerable difficulties for the fishing industry within the region. The UK Government imposed a blanket ban on all forms of fishing across the region during the early days of the incident. A voluntary ban on working 40 miles of coastal water was imposed by the south Wales fishing fleet. Fisheries had to be closed with the ban only lifted as the danger of human poisoning decreased. The first ban to be lifted was the ban on salmon and trout. The other bans were lifted with time once there was enough evidence to ensure that there was no damage to commercial fisheries, particularly those individuals of commercial size. The last one was lifted in September 1997.
Since that time an intensive-sampling programme has been underway to test commercially harvested species for evidence of oil contamination. Fortunately, offshore species and the important shellfish beds to the east of the region were declared safe, and the bans affecting those groups of fish were lifted.
The effects on reproduction or on larvae and eggs developments still have not been noticed. The commercial fishing trade, both sea fishing and farming instantly diminished, this caused damage to the fishermen of the region but together with the damage caused to the tourism and agriculture which are the 3 bases of the economic region, most of the population was affected.
The tourism industry was heavily affected immediately following the spill, however by the summer of 1996 the local area was sufficiently restored to attract bathers, surfers and SCUBA divers back to many localities along the coast.
