Gulf of Mexico Coastal Fish Prices May Rise Here Locally

According to Kare11 News Twin Cities seafood could be impacted by the Gulf disaster.

Tim Lauer with Coastal Seafoods says less than 1% of the Gulf shrimp  constitute the total world shrimp market. He says the shrimp they offer their customers are from Texas.

According to Minnpost Gulf oysters are never exposed to surface waters, so unless the oil sinks, the oysters could well survive, as could shrimp and stocks of redfish and other species who can swim away from the spill.

But in the longer term, the spill could pose a significant danger to the industry if it damages fragile nursery grounds or drips down into oyster beds.

The oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon oil platform disaster has grown to 130 miles long and 70 miles wide. It is currently threatening Louisiana coastal waters which are rich with oyster beds.

"Typically, those take one to two years to grow so I think it's going to be disastrous to people down there," Tim Lauer with Coastal Seafoods adds.

At just over $14 a pound for the brown shrimp, prices are stable. That would change if the oil slick spreads across the gulf and puts more shrimpers and oyster fishermen temporarily out of business.

Minneapolis AAA's Jennifer Brownlee said, "the environmental impacts from the oil spill will be more considerable than the prices consumers are paying at the pump."

http://wcco.com/local/seafood.vendors.spill.2.1672506.html

Are seafood prices higher?

Go to Aquafind.com and you will find out why Norwegian salmon prices are higher and what the markets are for octupus, oysters and shrimp.  http://aquafind.com

The Plan To Block Oil-Tainted Fish: Smell It.

The Food and Drug Administration promises that no oil-tainted fish from the Gulf of Mexico will make its way to consumers. But untainted fish from the Gulf will continue to be sold. So how will the FDA test fish to make sure it's OK?

"They're gonna smell it," the Consumerist's Meg Marco informs us. "With their noses."

ABC News talked to Steve Otwell, who Marco says "leads the University of Florida's professional seafood sensory school." What a gig. Otwell will help train people from the FDA and the National Marine Fisheries Service on how to sniff fish.

http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/daily-bread/2010/05/28/how-spot-oil-tainted-fish-nose-knows
 

Where are local supermarkets and restaurants getting their seafood?

All you need to know about Whole Foods how to buy fish at their store is accessible on their web site. Very comprehensive lists and information on the Aquacultures of fish, Methylmercury in Seafood and links like the EPA's fish advisories and a link to the FDA's site on Mercury in Commerical Fish and Shellfish.

http://www.wholefood.com/products/seafood.php

http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advice/

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/FoodbornePathogensContaminants/Methylmercury/ucm115644.htm

The Consumerist: Expert says Gulf Oil Spill won't ruin your shrimp dinner

The idea of eating a platter of shrimp pulled from the same water where a sunken oil rig continues to leak 42,000 gallons of oil each day may not be appetizing to some, but some guy who claims to know a lot about the topic says you need not fret.

Says Mike Voisin, past president of the National Fisheries Institute:

No one should be worrying about whether the shrimp they're having for dinner is going to have oil on it... First, no company wants to put that kind of product on the market... And those areas that have oil in them will be blocked by state health officials and not harvested.
Voisin also claims that fish like tuna and shrimp will instinctively migrate away from the oil spill. He did admit that oysters are the most at risk because they lack the ability to move.

Though a good chunk of domestically caught seafood comes from the Gulf of Mexico, 80% of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported.

But if the spill moves further toward land it could wreak long-term havoc on the ecosystem and the Gulf fishing industry.

http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20&search=gulf+seafood