Commercial shrimpers are expecting a good start of the season as they foresees an increase in boats as shrimpers fleeing waters closed after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill toss their nets into Texas waters. The Texas season always attracts boats from other states, but this year is different. A spreading oil slick after the April explosion of the deepwater rig off the Louisiana coast prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to close about 83,000 square miles of the Gulf to commercial fishing as a precautionary measure to ensure Gulf seafood is safe for consumers.
Traces of oil found on freshwater plants on Galveston beaches last week to the Deepwater Horizon spill, but experts said that shouldn’t affect shrimpers. Andy Tirpak, of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said that the impact of oil spill on the shrimp season would be minimal, especially if we see no more oil, or, if what we see in the future is the heavily weathered oil that we have been seeing so far.
NOAA Fisheries Service expanded the fishing closure boundary Monday but did not include Texas waters. Tirpak said he doubted much, if any, of the oil would show up on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico where shrimp live. Still, seafood consumers should avoid eating any fish or shellfish that smells like oil or looks bad, Tirpak said.
