Oil pollution toxicity to marine fish increased scientific knowledge on the specific effects of oil pollution toxicity to marine fish. Focused research on oil pollution toxicity to fish began in earnest in 1989, after the "Exxon Valdez" tanker struck a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska and spilled approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil into the surrounding water. At the time, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest in the history of the United States. There were many adverse ecological impacts of the spill including the loss of the loss of billions of Pacific herring and pink salmon eggs. Pacific herring were just beginning
Exxon Valdez oil spill official position was that punitive damages greater than $25 million were not justified because the spill resulted from an accident, and because Exxon spent an estimated $2 billion cleaning up the spill and a further $1 billion to settle related civil and criminal charges. Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that Exxon bore responsibility for the accident because the company "put a drunk in charge of a tanker in Prince William Sound." Exxon recovered a significant portion of clean-up and legal expenses through insurance claims associated with the grounding of the "Exxon Valdez". Also, in 1991, Exxon made a quiet, separate