NOAA And FDA Announce Chemical Test For Dispersant In Gulf Seafood; 'Should Help Strengthen Consumer Confidence'
NOAA Official Asks News Aggregator To Withdraw Story Questioning Safety Of Gulf Seafood
Eco-Labeled Seafood Is Not Always What It Seems; 'The Results Are Not Exactly Shocking'
Price Chopper Becomes First Supermarket To Voluntarily Test Seafood For Species Verification
NOAA Assesses Post-Tsunami Marine Debris In American Samoa, Effects On Corals
Study Reveals How Fishing Gear Can Cause Slow Death Of Whales; 'Added Buoyancy, Added Drag, And Reduced Swimming Speed'
Study: Amazon River Exhales Virtually All Carbon Taken Up By Rain Forest; 'Rivers Were Once Thought Of As Passive Pipes'
Scientists Discover New Bass Species In Florida; 'It Found Us'
Scientists Uncover Relationship Between Lavas Erupting On Sea Floor And Deep-Carbon Cycle
Research: Health Defects Found In Fish Exposed To Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill; Effect 'Can Take Time To Emerge'
Guinness: India Park Home to World's Largest Crocodile; 23 Feet
Study: Amazon River Exhales Virtually All Carbon Taken Up By Rain Forest; 'Rivers Were Once Thought Of As Passive Pipes'
Texans Snare 'State Record' 880-pound, 14-foot Alligator With 'Secret Recipe Of Chicken And Some Other Stuff'
Study Reveals How Fishing Gear Can Cause Slow Death Of Whales; 'Added Buoyancy, Added Drag, And Reduced Swimming Speed'
750-lb Hammerhead Shark Caught Off Florida Coast May Be World Record
Strange Creature Found On Russian Coastline Baffles Locals - 443 comments
Freak! Malaysian Fisherman Reels in Shark with 'Webbed Feet' - 380 comments
Shark Attack Leaves Florida Student Scarred, Wounded; 'There Was Blood' - 293 comments
Guinness: India Park Home to World's Largest Crocodile; 23 Feet - 274 comments
1063-pound, 12-foot 6-inch Mako Shark Hooked off Florida Coast May Be World Record - 264 comments
Dr. Lisa Desfosse, Director of NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Science Center, explaining where and how NOAA samples seafood. credit NOAA
SILVER SPRING, Maryland -- NOAA continues to re-test seafood from the Gulf of Mexico to demonstrate to American and worldwide consumers that it is safe to eat, and announced today it will continue this re-testing into the summer.
Before waters were opened to fishing, NOAA and FDA extensively tested seafood from those waters, and NOAA has now completed two additional rounds of sampling and testing from each of those reopened areas. Thousands of test results, all publicly available, prove Gulf seafood is safe from oil and dispersant contamination.
In June 2010, NOAA, FDA and the Gulf states agreed upon an extensive sampling and testing procedure. Areas once closed to fishing were reopened only when all seafood sampled in the area passed both the established sensory and chemical testing for oil and dispersant.
"Gulf seafood is consistently passing FDA's safety tests by a wide margin," said Eric Schwaab, assistant NOAA administrator in charge of NOAA's Fisheries Service. "We are continuing to test, and we are making the data available to the public, so they can make fully informed purchasing decisions."
"The system set up to keep tainted seafood out of circulation has worked," said Don Kraemer, acting deputy director for FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "Consumers should know that Gulf seafood is extensively tested and is safe to eat."
The nearly 500 samples in the two rounds of post-opening testing are comprised of more than 4,300 fish and shrimp, since a sample consists of multiple individuals. They are a representative sample of the commercially and recreationally important fish in the Gulf, and cover the 87,481 square miles of the Gulf that have been reopened to fishing. The specific locations, dates of sampling, species type, and test results are available publicly for each of the samples.
"Increased testing, and communicating about the increased testing, is vital for Gulf fishermen and the Gulf economy, and for consumers," said David Krebs, a commercial fisherman and president of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance. "It's important to show that our seafood has been proven safe time and time again."
Funding for the ongoing testing comes from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, which is available to finance clean-up costs that responsible parties are ultimately required to pay. The government continues to bill responsible parties regularly for the reimbursement of these costs.
An area covering 1,041 square miles immediately surrounding the wellhead still remains closed to all commercial and recreational fishing. NOAA will use an FDA-approved plan to begin sampling the closed area on March 12, and will announce the reopening of the area if all the samples pass the established sensory and chemical tests.
The first fishing area closure was instituted on May 2, 2010, covering about 3 percent (6,817 square miles) of Gulf waters around the wellhead. As oil continued to spill from the wellhead, the area grew in size, peaking at 37 percent (88,522 square miles) of Gulf waters on June 2.
Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of UnderwaterTimes.com, its staff or its advertisers.
Reader Comments
5 people have commented so far.Are they serious??? What about all the dolphin stillbirths and very young deaths???
comment# 1 - Deborah H · Northest USA · Mar 25, 2011 @ 4:43pm
I was afraid this was spin doctoring ...
comment# 2 - Kristina Karina · Narragansett, RI · Mar 25, 2011 @ 5:16pm
I know the Feds think all Southerners think we are all a bunch of inbred jeds down here. I just hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your test results are BULL. We have stillborn dolphins or infant dolphins washing up on the Gulf shores every other day, that used to be a great rarity, and independent testing has proving the seafood in the Gulf is so tainted it would probably kill us with in a year. That is, if we consumed it the way we had prior to BP destroying EVERYTHING. The amount of lies which can be proven AS LIES is not only tiring, but disgusting. Get you act together. The fisherman of the Gulf Coast better as do the people who consume the product. We produce 30-40% of the seafood in this country, are Americans going to get WARNING labels the seafood is from the Gulf, so they have a choice in whether or not to buy it. The lies are bad enough, now you are purposely endangering peoples lives and health. You should all resign. And why is a WEATHER SERVICE testing seafood??? Leave to the professionals, to independent labs. Haven't we been through enough?
comment# 3 - Dusty King · NOLA · Mar 25, 2011 @ 8:57pm
Do you eat dolphins?
comment# 4 - Janice Brady · Detroit, USA · Mar 26, 2011 @ 6:01am
What??.. you don't think the Sniff Test (aka sensory test) is reliable?? Looks like fish...smells like fish...let's eat it! What a joke! Not to mention that the link to these NOAA results returns "Page Not found". What a surprise. Our own gove it part of the cover-up because they have much invested in this industry - on a national and even a personal level. I think it's time to clean house and get some truth flowing.
comment# 5 - Lisa · Gulf Coast · Mar 26, 2011 @ 6:38am