Gulf: Oyster & Shrimp Harvests Shutdown

It's only a matter of time before all LA and MS waters are closed to watermen. From the Times Picayune:

The massive BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has forced state officials to close additional oyster beds and cancel the central coast of Louisiana's shrimp season.
Alan Levine, secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, and Dr. Jimmy Guidry, the state health officer, on Saturday signed an order to close molluscan shellfish harvesting areas 14 and 15, west of the Mississippi River in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. The measure was designed as a precaution protecting oyster meat from contamination, according to a DHH announcement.
DHH's Office of Public Health continues testing oyster beds along Louisiana's 8-million acre shoreline. Meanwhile, scientists and engineers are regularly testing oyster meat from closed beds as part of a process to determine when oysters from beds affected by the oil slick are safe to eat.
Oysters harvested in unaffected areas and oysters collected prior to affected beds' closures are safe to eat, DHH said.
Meanwhile, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham closed the shrimp season on waters from Four Bayou Pass to Freshwater Bayou. No shrimp harvesting will be permitted on outside territorial waters from the Mississippi-Louisiana border to Freshwater Bayou, according to the announcement.

BP's little condom thingy didn't work out so well, but their spin doctors are still on the airwaves jacking up their efforts. Does anyone believe them anymore?

The sadness continues HERE.

More later.
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