The oil spill that has hit the fragile habitats of Louisiana's 8-million-acre shoreline is likely to have a major effect on fishermen, shrimp trawlers and oystermen, but it won't much change what's available at U.S. seafood counters. Louisiana produces only about 1% of the seafood Americans eat.
About 83% of the seafood consumed in the United States comes from overseas, says Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute, a seafood trade group.
Louisiana does account for a big portion of the catch from the Gulf of Mexico— nearly 72%, Gibbons says, but the broad impact in seafood availability isn't going to be significant. "You aren't going to see shortages in your grocer's freezer," he says.
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