PASCAGOULA, MISS. — Expert sniffer Steve Wilson lifted the cover off a Pyrex bowl and fanned the aroma of the raw red snapper sitting inside it toward him on a recent afternoon at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's lab here. He quickly replaced the cover and stepped back, letting the scent register for a few seconds.
Conclusion: No oil.
Wilson, chief quality officer for NOAA's seafood inspection program, oversees a panel of seven olfactory experts from the agency and the Food and Drug Administration who have been tasked with ensuring that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe to eat. The team also will help determine when the thousands of square miles of federal waters that have been closed to commercial fishing since the BP oil spill nearly three months ago can be reopened.
This puts the fate of the seafood industry in their hands. Or, rather, their noses.
"It's a very specialized skill set," Wilson said. He later added, "There are people who just can't smell."
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