Louisiana Works To Wash Image Of Seafood Post-Spill

As the monumental subsea engineering challenges of the BP oil spill finally subside, the challenges for the Gulf of Mexico seafood industry are only just beginning.

With portions of Louisiana waters already reopened to commercial fishing, marketing experts and seafood safety scientists from across the country on Sunday discussed the road ahead for re-establishing consumer confidence in Gulf seafood after a three-month barrage of images from the disaster.

State health officials and experts with the Food and Drug Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency discussed the system of fishing closures and seafood testing measures aimed at ensuring that no seafood that poses a public health risk could make it to the market.

"Seafood has never gotten this kind of attention anywhere in history," said Walt Dickhoff, who oversees chemical testing for NOAA at the agency's Seattle seafood testing lab. "So I'm quite confident it's safe."

To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Times-Picayune.

Photo courtesy of The Times-Picayune