The closing of coastal fishing grounds is driving up seafood prices and raising costs for hundreds of local restaurants that serve Gulf-caught fish, oysters and shrimp.
About 30 percent of the state's waters — an area responsible for more than half its oyster production and a significant share of its shrimp and crabs — have been closed to fishing because of the BP oil spill.
The closures have limited fishermen and cut into the bottom lines of the estimated two-thirds of restaurants statewide the serve Louisiana seafood.
Fried oysters are a top seller at Dupuy's Oyster Shop in Abbeville, but they've been harder to find since the spill, said owner Jody Hebert.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Advertiser (Lafayette, LA).