Small amounts of crude oil hydrocarbons enter the waters of Port Valdez from discharge from the terminal's ballast water treatment facility. Subsistence shrimp fishermen wanted to know if shrimp caught in Port Valdez were safe to eat, so the Council commissioned a report through Auke Bay Lab to provide information about hydrocarbon levels found in shrimp harvested in Port Valdez.
While the report conclusions show hydrocarbons accumulate to the greatest degree in shrimp eggs, the overall takeaway message from the study is hydrocarbon tainting of shrimp muscle (the part usually consumed) is well below that which is considered to pose a human health risk. Researchers, however, suggested further study to determine whether the hydrocarbon levels detected in the eggs have an effect on the shrimp’s development.