NOAA institutes fishery closure in parts of the Gulf in response to oil spill

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has instituted a 10 day fishing closure for federal waters between Louisiana and Pensacola.

The closed area is largely between Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River to waters off Florida’s Pensacola Bay. The area affected is most likely to be impacted by the BP oil spill.

NOAA scientists are on the ground in the area of the oil spill taking water and seafood samples in an effort to ensure the safety of the seafood and fishing activities. NOAA is working with the state governors to evaluate the need to declare a fisheries disaster in order to facilitate federal aid to fishermen in these areas – something the states of Louisiana and Mississippi have already requested.

BP is also hiring fishermen to help clean up from the spill and deploy boom in the Gulf of Mexico. Interested fishermen should call (425) 745-8017.

According to NOAA, there were 3.2 million recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico region who took 24 million fishing trips in 2008. Commercial fishermen in the Gulf harvested more than 1 billion pounds of finfish and shellfish in 2008.


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