Gulf oil spill: Wide swath of fisheries reopened in Louisiana

Louisiana fisheries officials reopened wide swaths of state coastal waters to commercial fishing late Thursday, permitting fishermen to catch finfish and shrimp off most of the eastern and southwestern coasts.

Commercial harvests of crabs and oysters are still banned.

State waters off southern Louisiana -- essentially south of the Mississippi River delta, including Barataria and Terrebonne bays -- remain closed, as beaches and marshes have continued to see oil wash up on those shores and into sensitive habitats.

Part of the Chandeleur Sound, near the Louisiana-Mississippi border, also remains closed to commercial fishermen.

The decision was made in coordination with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, after extensive government tests, both by chemical analysis and human sniffing.  

A decision on reopening fishing for crabs was postponed because FDA testing for those crustaceans take longer to process. Maps on open and closed areas can be found on the website of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

No new oil has flowed into the Gulf of Mexico since a sealing cap was installed over the failed well 50 miles off Louisiana. As early as Sunday evening, BP will take the first step in a weeks-long process to shut the well for good.

-- Rong-Gong Lin II in Kenner, La.

Map: Blue areas indicate where commercial finfishing and shrimping has reopened in Louisiana state waters; purple areas indicate areas that remain closed. A ban remains on fishing for crab and oysters. Credit: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Comments

[Just ME in TJust ME in T]

If it is proven that larvae of blue crabs and fiddler crabs sampled from Louisiana to Pensacola are contaminated with oil and corexit dispersant, (as one expert put it) “the effect on fisheries could last for years probably not a matter of months” and affect many species.

SO we just stop eating crab and it will be OK right? Wrong!

It all comes down to understanding the food chain. The food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a biological community (an ecosystem) to obtain nutrition.

http://just-me-in-t.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-for-dinner.html

[Bill Carson]

Eating fish from the gulf will be like chewing razor blades !

Fish are visible members of aquatic communities that are vulnerable to PAH contamination.Epidemiologic evidence on the relationship between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and cancer needs to be reviewed

On Sunday April 27, 2003, the Tank Barge Bouchard No. 120 struck rocks south of Westport, MA, when it passed on the wrong side of a navigational marker at the entrance of Buzzards Bay. The resulting 12-foot gash on the bottom of the hull released an estimated 98,000 Number 6 fuel oil in Buzzards Bay. The vessel was on route to deliver oil at the Mirant electricity generation facility located on the Cape Cod Canal.