Is the state and federal government doing enough to ensure the safety of seafood being pulled out of recently re-opened Gulf waters?
Is the state and federal government doing enough to ensure the safety of seafood being pulled out of recently re-opened Gulf waters? The AP reports today on fishermen questioning whether government officials, along with BP, are moving too hastily to restore the Gulf fishing industry. Mainly, they are concerned regulators are relying too heavily on a smell tests by scientists trained to detect the smell of oil and dispersant. Scientists have yet to develop a chemical test to detect toxic chemical dispersants, used to break up oil in the Gulf, in fish. Charter fishing captain Ryan Lambert tells the AP he has "no confidence in their testing methods."
"But BP has just wanted to push, push, push to get us back fishing. You can't hurry it and then find something bad later," he adds. "You can only cry wolf so many times before (customers) decide they aren't coming back."
BP vice president Doug Suttles, on a boat tour yesterday, insisted that Gulf seafood is safe, and that he would feed it to his own family. Other fishermen and seafood processors have expressed a similar confidence. Meanwhile, Gov.Bobby Jindal has called for BP to fund a 20-year $457 million seafood testing and certification program to safeguard the national reputation of the state's $2.3 billion commercial fishing industry.