Gulf seafood safety still concerns local businesses

Local businesses and consumers remain wary of the safety of Florida’s seafood in the continuing wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, despite federal and local reports that the products are safe.

As of April 19, 2011, all federally controlled waters in the gulf were reopened for fishing and the federal government declared the seafood to be safe. In March, members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Association and Food and Drug Administration jointly authored a press release that said that gulf fish and seafood were safe for human consumption.

The press release said, in part, “…knowing that finfish can clear [contaminants] from their bodies within days, shrimp and crabs take a little longer, and shellfish like oysters take the longest time, we tested these various types of seafood individually to make sure we didn’t miss anything. The results of the tests, all publicly available, should help Americans buy gulf seafood with confidence: the seafood has consistently tested 100 to 1000 times lower than the safety thresholds established by the FDA for the residues of oil contamination.”

For more on this story, see the June 16 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.