At this time of the year, Worldwide Shrimp in Illinois would normally pack 250,000 pounds a day of Gulf of Mexico shrimp.
Now, it's getting about 15,000 pounds as a result of the Gulf oil spill. The shrimp are selling at prices 50% higher than this time last year. "It's bad out there," says Worldwide wholesaler John Appelbaum.
It may get worse. Federal officials have closed about 37% of the Gulf of Mexico to fishing because of the 6-week-old spill. Meanwhile, widescale efforts are underway to prevent seafood tainted with oil from getting to market. But Louisiana seafood officials say the brand is getting shunned nonetheless given the images of soiled water, beaches and wildlife.
"Buyers are concerned," says Ewell Smith, director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. He says Louisiana seafood processors are reporting canceled orders from buyers nationwide and that more restaurants are posting notices that they're not selling Gulf seafood. Smith fears that Louisiana's seafood brand, which accounts for 30% of U.S. production, may be harmed for years, as it was after Hurricane Katrina. Even though fishing waters were cleared as clean a month after the hurricane, "It still took us two years to turn around perceptions," Smith says.
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Photo by Eric Gay, Associated Press
