Seafood safe despite oil in Gulf of Mexico, experts say

[OhioChick]

April 27, 2010 11:43 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- As a sunken rig continues to spew 42,000 gallons of oil a day off the Louisiana coast, health and fishing industry experts say seafood will remain safe to eat.

"No one should be worrying about whether the shrimp they're having for dinner is going to have oil on it," said Mike Voisin, the past president of the National Fisheries Institute, a nonprofit organization that tracks the fishing industry and advocates seafood safety regulations.

There is the possibility, though, that the slick could move inland, threatening sea life in estuaries and seriously damaging the ecosystem.

"We're very concerned that east of the Mississippi River, based on currents and winds we're dealing with now, this oil will reach the shore," said Chuck Wilson, a Louisiana State University oceanography and coastal sciences professor.

"That could be a huge environmental problem and a significant financial blow to fisheries," he said. "But your food will be safe."


More: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/27/fish.oil.safe/

[onehandle]

1. 'This message brought to you by special interests of fisheries'

Sez them. I will be avoiding any fish that comes from that area. Forever.

[DJ13]

2. .... and as a side benefit it wont stick to the pan when you cook it!

[Mojorabbit]

13. OMG! I needed that laugh. LOL nt

[bobthedrummer]

3. No more choice of oil or water for canned fish from there then...

:puke:

[dflprincess]

4. Besides,

the mercury will already kill you.

[Phoonzang]

5. Hey, it's all organic right?

RIGHT? :sarcasm:

[Rex]

6. Don't eat fish, hardly ever do. Wouldn't trust anything that came

from the coast down here. Which is sad, because I grew up eating seafood in Houston. The smell when you enter Corpus is so bad it almost makes you gag. The whole coast is brown slush.

[JuniperLea]

7. Sure! Just like the air in NYC on 9/12...

Everything's fine... just fine... might kill off some fish, but you'll be just fine.

[skeptical cynic]

8. Reminds me of the post-Exxon/Valdez PR campaign

to make sure people kept buying Alaska seafood. The state had health inspectors stationed at every fish vacuum sniffing the gills of every 20th salmon on the conveyor for the smell of oil.

Were the fish safe to eat? The salmon probably were because they only migrate through Prince William Sound. But the same thing would have been said, with the same special interests behind the PR, if the fish hadn't been safe to eat.

Aside: Twenty-one years later, the herring still haven't recovered in this "un-impacted" fishery. A combination of two things: 1) Toxicity to eggs and young herring, and 2) the decision to allow continued fishing for herring without regard to replacement by your fish that weren't there.

Watch for similar "scientific fishery management" following this event. On the bright side, and 42,000 gallons a day, it will take about nine months to spill as much oil as Exxon says was spilled in Prince William Sound, or about two years to spill as much oil as unbiased interests believe was spilled in Prince William Sound.

Be aware Gulf Coast. You are about to hear a lot of BS from special interests, including captured federal and state agencies doing what those special interests tell them to do via their political puppets.

[HopeHoops]

9. It is a real stretch to call seafood "safe" with or WITHOUT an oil spill.

That's especially true of scavengers - "You want some toxic waste with that order?"

[mikelgb]

10. Hell they come half-dressed and no extra charge, just add vinegar

[Ratty]

11. Are these the same experts

Who guaranteed there was NO chance of oil leaking from the rig, just a few days ago? Yeah, I feel better now.

[Lochloosa]

12. 90 % of shrimp are imported. And you really don't want to know the conditions they are farmed under

[greencharlie]

14. yeah, I believe it! MMMMmmmm want me some shrimp! nt

[gatorboy]

15. Unless Aquaman is speaking on behalf of the fishing industry experts, then I'm calling bullshit.