Gulf fisheries are trying hard to convince their consumers that the seafood they harvest and sell is safe to eat. Fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico are beginning to reopen their doors more than three months after the oil began gushing from the sea floor. According to the seafood industry workers things are not normal as they’ve lost markets across the country due to the perception problem.
The Gulf accounts for a majority of the domestic shrimp and oysters eaten by Americans and about 2 percent of overall U.S. seafood consumption. After oil spill consumers are now turning to imports. The well’s suffocation coincided with the release of a federal report this week showing that only about a quarter of the oil lost to the leak remains in or along the shores of the Gulf, with the rest having dissipated or otherwise disappeared.
Some fishing grounds remain closed as that oil continues to wash through the Gulf, but state and federal tests have shown samples of seafood in some areas safe to eat. The Food and Drug Administration told that chemical dispersants used to break up the oil do not pose a public health concern.
