Louisiana reopens fishing grounds after spill closure (Brown pelicans find new home)

Yahoo ^ | 7/30/10

[Libloather]

Louisiana reopens fishing grounds after spill closure
14 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS (AFP) – Louisiana has reopened wide swaths of state fishing grounds that were closed in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after seafood testing, the state said.

Working in coordination with the federal Food and Drug Administration, the state's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said "commercial fishing will reopen for finfish and shrimp in portions of state waters east of the Mississippi River."

Other areas remain closed to Louisiana's fishing and shrimping community, which has been devastated by the closure of state and federal waters fouled by crude spilling from a ruptured well off the state's coastline.

The closures were ordered to prevent potentially oil-contaminated seafood being caught and served, but the state and the FDA said "extensive sensory testing and analytical chemistry results" showed "the fish samples tested from previously closed areas are safe for consumption."

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the agency was "confident all appropriate steps have been taken to ensure that seafood harvested from the waters being opened today is safe."

She said fishermen in the area had stressed the importance both of getting back to work, but "also a real commitment to protecting the health of their customers."

[Libloather]

Brown pelicans find new home at Goose Island State Park
Birds were exposed to oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico
By Michelle Christenson
Corpus Christi Caller Times
Posted July 28, 2010 at 6:03 p.m., updated July 29, 2010 at 3:50 a.m.

CORPUS CHRISTI — Twenty rehabilitated brown pelicans made a 300-mile journey from Hammond, La. to Goose Island State Park on Wednesday morning, courtesy of the Coast Guard.

The pelicans are the fourth group of birds released in Texas after being exposed to oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. About 200 pelicans have been relocated to the Coastal Bend since June.

“These are happy birds now,” said Rhonda Murgatroyd, Wildlife Operation Section Chief for Deepwater Horizon incident. “This is the best part of the response for me.”

http://www.caller.com/news/2010/jul/28/ns_bird_release/?partner=yahoo_feeds

[edcoil]

but, but, but the massive oil spill and destruction it was going to destroy the gulf forever ...

[Sacajaweau]

The brown pelican was almost extinct in La...supposedly because of DDT and there was a a huge expensive program to get their numbrs up. They were however fine in other areas.

Now, their numbers in La are ridiculous.

[Eyes Unclouded]

Good thing everything in the gulf is back to normal (or just about to be there in a few months). I hear with all the oil we are going get from the skimmers this whole things will actually pay for itself.

[Joe 6-pack]

"The closures were ordered to prevent potentially oil-contaminated seafood being caught and served..."

...and to open up the US market for Asian sewage contaminated shrimp.