Gulf seafood industry tries to shake an oily image

August 8, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS

The rich fishing grounds of the Gulf of Mexico are beginning to reopen more than three months after crude began gushing from the sea floor. But those who harvest, process and sell the catch face a new crisis — convincing wary consumers it’s not only delicious, but also safe.

As BP PLC closed the books on a defining week in its battle to contain the oil, with engineers finally forcing the surging crude underground with a torrent of mud and cement, people along the Gulf Coast began looking to the future — including the fishing industry, which has a tough sell despite tests showing the catch seems safe to eat.

“We have a huge perception problem,” said Ewell Smith, director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. “We have lost markets across the country, and some of them may be lost for good.”

The Gulf accounts for a majority of the domestic shrimp and oysters eaten by Americans and about 2 percent of overall U.S. seafood consumption. But with safety suspicions abounding, consumers are turning up their noses, and some wary suppliers appear to be turning to imports.

BP this week finished pumping mud and cement into the well that blew out after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Some fishing areas remain closed, bt state and federal tests have shown samples of seafood in some areas safe to eat.