May 21st, 2010

As the “clouds” of oil mixed with dispersant move through the water, “this is where the shrimp are, and these are small droplets that can be ingested,” he said. “Even contact will likely kill them.

“The wetlands will recover at some point, but the animals that live in those wetlands won’t be there for a while.”

Shrimpers cry foul

Some of the loudest voices who object to the dispersants are beleaguered shrimpers. They already are struggling against cheap imported shrimp that undercut their business. Now there is a flawed public perception that shrimp being sold and eaten now may be tainted with oil, even though that’s not true at this time.

In Louisiana, the state that produces the most shrimp, the wetlands that finally recovered from Hurricane Katrina is dealt another blow.

For weeks, the shrimp industry has appealed to the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to stop using the Corexit dispersant.

“The EPA is conducting a giant experiment with our most productive fisheries by approving the use of these powerful chemicals on a massive, unprecedented scale after just three subsea tests,” a spokesperson for Southern Shrimp Alliance said.

The government only days ago ordered BP to stop using Corexit and replace it with a less-toxic dispersant.

“The oil dispersant is affecting plankton, thus shrimp and all the species up to marine mammals,” said Deborah Long, a representative of the alliance. “There is very little study of the dispersant and many different scientists will say the studies aren’t there.

“Corexit is toxic, especially for eggs, larvae and shrimp in their youth. And the oil/dispersant mixture is where the shrimp are now – in the gulf, recently hatched,” Long said. The alliance represents wild shrimp fisheries in eight coastal states.

Shrimp is a key food source for black tip sharks, Spanish mackerel, red snapper, redfish and spotted seatrout in the gulf. Shrimp eggs feed zooplankton, mollusks, rays and sharks.

They are essential to the health of estuaries and marshlands.

“Many of the fish populations in the gulf are already in bad shape, and this oil spill could put additional pressure on them, either directly by coming into contact with oil, or indirectly through the loss of food sources, such as shrimp,” marine scientist Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb said.

As adults, oil threatens them in the deep waters of the gulf. As eggs, they float in the water column, and would die if exposed to oil. As larvae, gulf currents carry them into estuaries, such as Louisiana’s, where heavy oil has already appeared. As juveniles, the shrimp live in shallow salty water, which could be contaminated for years, she said. Harrould-Kolieb works for Oceana, an international organization that focuses on ocean conservation.

The Gulf of Mexico is the source for nearly three-fourths of all shrimp caught in the U.S., an estimated 189 million pounds worth $367 million (in 2008).

Those shrimp come in three varieties: white, pink and – the most common – brown. Spring is a critical time in the shrimp life cycle. Young shrimp are just now leaving their coastal homes to head out into the gulf, where they spawn. Their tiny larvae ride currents back into coastal estuaries, the marshland areas near the coast or inland where they will spend most of their lives.

“There’s no good time for a disaster, but this is a very bad time,” said Long. “This year, because of the cold winter, the brown shrimp are moving out later, by a week or two, because of the water temperature.”

Shrimp: A big player in the American food chain

You may think that shrimp on your plate came from the gulf, but you’re probably wrong.  Ninety percent of the shrimp eaten in America is imported, mostly from shrimp farms in Thailand and other Asian countries, as well as some coastal Latin American countries. The foreign shrimp is much cheaper, even through it has been found  to be contaminated with a powerful antibiotic, considered a human carcinogen.

Deborah Long says gulf shrimp is closely tested and monitored – more so than the imported shrimp. The cheap foreign shrimp have placed tremendous pressure on gulf shrimpers. Throw in a hurricane like Katrina, and now this oil spill: It’s a recipe for disaster.

Consumers need not worry about the shrimp they’re buying at the market or eating at restaurants now, even if it’s from the Gulf of Mexico. Those shrimp were harvested long before this ecological disaster began. There are still  large parts of the gulf where shrimpers are working, and their catch is untouched by oil. Americans love their shrimp. It is the most consumed seafood in the country, and the average American eats a little more than 4 lbs. of shrimp a year, according to Food Change.

“We are working with the FDA to collect and evaluate seafood samples to assess the contamination within the area of the spill and throughout the gulf,” Monica Allen, a representative for the NOAA Fisheries Service, said. The testing includes chemical analysis of water, sediment and tissue to determine safety.

There is a second method of analyzing shrimp and fish that is surprisingly low-tech: “sensory analysis.” In other words, smell and taste – a human nose and human tastebuds.

University of Florida researchers will help government seafood inspectors learn to use their sense of smell to sniff out unsafe shrimp and fish. Steve Otwell, a professor who has been in charge of the university’s professional seafood sensory school (which began in 1995), has worked with government and food industry experts to augment expensive and slow chemical testing with the sniff test for hydrocarbons.

Some people can smell better than others, Otwell said in a statement. “Some are gifted sniffers, he said, while others make lifestyle choices, such as smoking, that hinder that ability,” the statement said.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

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