Oil Spill and Socioeconomic Impacts on Riverine Fishing Communities in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Bayelsa State hosts some of the most resource-dependent riverine fishing communities in West Africa, yet its wetland ecosystems and artisanal livelihoods are chronically threatened by recurring crude oil spill incidents. Despite the high frequency of such events, empirical post-spill socioeconomic impact assessments (PSIAs) remain rare. This paper addresses that gap, using the Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company’s Santa Barbara South Well-1 wellhead blowout of 5 November 2021, in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29, Nembe Local Government Area, as a case study. A post-spill impact assessment was conducted in April 2022, employing participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods comprising focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), community-wide meetings, and structured questionnaires (n = 81) across eight purposively selected spill-impacted communities. Three socioeconomic indicators were assessed: livelihood and fisheries activities, income derived from fisheries, and visible environmental damage. Results reveal that 93.5% of the resident population depended on artisanal fisheries as the primary livelihood activity, with the majority (46.6%) earning above ₦50,000 monthly from fishing operations prior to the spill. The incident was associated with a universally reported collapse of fish catch per unit effort (CPUE) across all surveyed communities, with respondents describing either a total inability to fish in contaminated waters or a severe reduction in returns per fishing trip, alongside reported destruction of fishing gear and boats, contamination of periwinkle and shellfish beds, and severe income losses across the entire fisheries supply chain. The study confirms that the spill severely undermined livelihoods and fisheries income, and that respondents reported substantial food-security strain and psychosocial distress in the communities surveyed, which already faced acute deficits in social infrastructure. A structured compensation framework, with clear eligibility criteria, transparent valuation methodologies, and enforceable timelines, is urgently recommended.