U.S. Adds Measures to Check Gulf Seafood

U.S. Adds Measures to Check Gulf Seafood

The U.S. government is adding measures to protect consumers from eating any seafood tainted by the oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, including moving inspections onto docks, targeting additional sampling of vulnerable products and creating a protocol to reopen fishing areas.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it would begin dockside sampling of fish products in the Gulf, according to the Deepwater Horizon Response Unified Command, which links organizations responding to the spill including BP PLC and multiple government agencies.

NOAA had begun seafood sampling and inspection shortly after the spill. Stepping up the program, it will now monitor ships and inspect fish right at docks to verify the seafood wasn't harvested from a banned area and is safe. It will notify the Food and Drug Administration and state health officials when it finds contaminated fish.

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The agencies' first response to the spill was to close fishing areas, which NOAA began shutting down in early May. Right now, about 32% of federal waters are closed to fishing because they are affected by oil or expected to be. The off-limits area includes a buffer of five nautical miles around known locations of oil.

The NOAA and the FDA are now establishing a protocol for reopening closed areas, which they will allow only if they are assured fish from the area are safe.

"We recognize that the effects of the oil spill continue to grow as oil continues to flow," NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco said Monday. "As remediation efforts continue, it may be possible to alleviate some of the economic harm caused by the oil spill by reopening previously closed areas."