Most of the area grocery stores and restaurants have passed some higher costs on to customers, including an additional $2 a pound on gulf shrimp. It is fact that gulf seafood is not a staple on the menu of restaurants in the Northland, but it might occasionally show up as a black sea bass or red snapper special.
Martin May, spokesman for the Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing in Florida, said both the water and seafood products are continually being tested by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also is keeping watch on harvesting. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said the state’s commercial fishermen were harvesting from waters that were unaffected by the oil spill.
Pete Ciacco, senior director of sales and marketing for Price Chopper, informed that industry reports are showing a 40 percent increase in the market price of gulf shrimp since the crisis in the gulf began. Several area restaurants also have seafood contracts through the end of the year, locking them into set prices. But if there is a seafood shortage, they will have to go to other wholesalers to meet demand and prices could jump.
