Also, if the slick goes west, the same applies. I know TX has a huge shrimp industry.
snip//
The worry is most acute in south Louisiana, where the oil is closest. The seafood harvested in the gulf and in the brackish maze of waterways inland is more than a big industry — it is a defining element of the culture, and a crucial tourist draw.
At stake, local fishermen said, is the fate of Louisiana's $1.6-billion seafood industry — and a way of life.
"I've got no backup," shrimper Rob Canty said Wednesday morning as he applied a layer of primer to his dock-bound boat, the Isaac James, in the fishing town of Venice. "This is all I ever did — shrimp, crab, oysters. If shrimping was bad, we'd go crabbing. If crabbing was bad, we'd go oystering. Now we might not have anything to fall back on."
Dave Cvitanovich, who operates a couple of oyster boats out of Empire, La., was worried about changes in the taste of his catch. So was his cousin Tommy Cvitanovich, owner of beloved Drago's Seafood Restaurant in suburban Metairie.
"My livelihood is in oysters," Tommy Cvitanovich said.
Ralph Portier, a professor at Louisiana State University who teaches aquatic marine toxicology, said earlier Wednesday that much was unknown, but it was unlikely that the slick would destroy the entire seafood industry.
more...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-20100429,0,7063120,full.story