CRAB SCABS

In the Gulf of Mexico, the poor crabs are showing petroleum burns on their shells.

Once the burn goes through the shell, the crabs lose their shells.

BP and the Government are offering a flowery, one-sided recovery report.

Independent reports are telling otherwise:

BP notes evidence of recovered fisheries and government assurances that seafood is safe to eat as part of its argument (to stop paying “future loss” claims). New Orleans seafood processor Harlon Pearce says that doesn’t address the lingering effect of the spill on the seafood business.

“For someone to say we don’t have damage in the future is clearly wrong,” Pearce said. While BP comments cited evidence that Gulf Seafood is safe, Pearce said the public’s perception hasn’t caught up with that reality. He estimated his distributions are down about 25 percent and it will take years to regain the trust of consumers and a place in the national market.

A true recovery could take even longer than Mr. Pearce predicts when fishermen continue to report a disturbing pattern of sickness inside the Gulf fisheries. One of the most worrisome accounts I’ve heard to date is from a veteran local crabber (and client of mine), who was kind enough to send me photos of what he’s been seeing just off the coast of Pensacola.

I should note that this is a followup to my June 24 post, Gulf “Seafood Safety” Update: Fisherman Pulls Up Sick, Visibly Oiled Crabs and “Black Goo” Off Florida Panhandle that went viral all the way up to a handful of reporters and producers at some of the most well-respected media outlets in the country (see link below). I can only hope those national outlets step up and shed some light on the grave state of our fisheries.

Here is the crabber’s report from off Pensacola in early July:

Our observation from the last two weeks is the number of these sick crabs has increased while the overall catch is down more than 70 percent since mid-April. As we have reported to the national marine fishery on our daily trip tickets, every crab we have sampled this year has come from a batch that, unfortunately, went to market. The copper-colored “stains” and holes and burns in the shell have just shown up in the last week. The stains are in the shell, so you can’t scrub them off.

The crabber’s claim that catches are down more than 70 percent and that crabs are showing up with open sores and petroleum-based burns is supported by many other locals. From a WWL-TV report.....


via stuartsmithblog