On April 20, 2010, a section of British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon underwater oil pipeline burst, gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  Since the initial incident, it has been difficult for experts and BP officials to determine how much oil has been and continues to spill into the gulf, although some experts put the number at well over a million gallons every day.  During the explosion of the pipeline, eleven men lost their lives.  Since then, countless people involved in the gulf seafood, tourism, and hospitality industries  have watched the spill threaten their livelihoods and even their health.

The safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico has been a major health concern since the spill.  The seafood industry around the gulf–and its impact on local restaurants, hotels, and other seafood vendors–amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.  In fact, sales from seafood in the five states bordering the Gulf of Mexico totaled $662 million in 2008.   Due to the size and duration of the spill, and the fish and shellfish that may be living in such toxic waters, the security of the entire gulf seafood industry is in jeopardy.

Monday, in a press conference from a Louisiana spill sight, President Obama declared Gulf seafood currently safe for consumption (he even admitted to eating some for lunch!).  However, some food safety experts haven’t always been so confident.  In April, shortly after the oil rig exploded, officials from the FDA, EPA, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went to the gulf to collect samples of fish and shellfish which they found to be relatively free from oil–however safety testing is ongoing.  Regions of the gulf where fish have tested highly contaminated have been closed for fishing in order to protect the public.  Those regions will not re-open until the seafood there is determined by authorities to be free from contaminants.

Restaurants and consumers nationwide need not be concerned.  More than 83% of all seafood is imported into the United States, including 90% of all shrimp.  However, the financial impact on seafood vendors around the spill cannot be estimated until experts have a clearer idea of just how massive the spill will become–and how soon it can be stopped.

Photo Credit:  Rich Matthews, AP