On the other hand, the Prince William, AK fisheries have never recovered from the Exxon Valdez spill
Sarcasm? If not you should rethink your position, it’s foolhardy. https://www.soundsalmon.org/
That's not quite accurate. The salmon, cod, and halibut populations have rebounded in Cordova, but herrings have not.
Just so you know, oil has seeped to the surface for millions of years with associated bacteria that readily eats it. Especially in the warm Gulf of Mexico. Steam cleaning the PWS beaches delayed recovery by killing this bacteria, but never the less the sound has recovered.
Abstract and Figures
Eight years of quantitative biological and chemical data have been analyzed for trends in recovery of biota inhabiting beaches in Prince William Sound following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and subsequent shoreline treatments. Sampling has focused on biota at sheltered rocky and mixed-soft sites subjected to three degrees of disturbance (unoiled, oiled but not hot-water washed, and oiled/hot-water washed). Only epibiota on sheltered rocky habitats are covered in this paper. The majority of community dominants survived 1989 on oiled rocky shores that were not high-pressure, hot-water washed. These areas appeared to be nearly completely recovered by 1991, although subsequent monitoring has revealed oscillations in species abundances that exceed those on unoiled beaches.
25 Years after Exxon Valdez Spill, Sea Otters Recovered in Alaska’s Prince William Sound
It took a quarter century, but the northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) living in Alaska’s Prince William Sound have finally recovered from the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, according to a new report from the U.S.