"oil spill" news and stories

Many fish and seafood lovers are wondering whether it is safe to buy the fresh wild gulf shrimp on sale at their local markets, while other consumers of unmarked fish worry whether what they're eating came from the Gulf of Mexico. How do they know whether it is contaminated by the oil spill and dangerous to eat?

AOL News's senior public health correspondent, Andrew Schneider, spent the past two weeks investigating who is doing the testing and how seafood safety is determined. Head over to AOL News to read his exclusive report.

BP chief Tony Hayward isn't the only executive putting his foot in his mouth. Fellow BP representative Randy Prescott brought on his own internet firestorm after he was quoted saying, "Louisiana isn't the only place that has shrimp." Ouch.

While it's true that shrimp are indeed harvested in other parts of the world, for those seeking sustainable American wild-caught shrimp, the Gulf has long been an important source. According to a Seafood Watch report, 90 percent of the landings of three major species of shrimp come from the Gulf of Mexico.

Two of the South's most famous chefs, New Orleans's native son John Besh and Food Network's Grande Dame Paula Deen who hails from Albany, Georgia, are teaming up this Saturday to co-host an event called 'Shrimp and Grits.'

The cooking demonstration and tasting is part of The New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, an annual culinary celebration of the city's celebrated fare paired with wines from all over the globe.

But Besh and Deen are not just cooking for the usual culinary fun of it. After 'Shrimp and Grits,' the duo will join other chefs to serve up Louisiana seafood at a $300-a-plate dinner at August, one of Besh's restaurants, to help raise money to help those affected by the recent oil spill. Proceeds will benefit the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, specifically a wetlands foundation that will help mitigate the long term effects on the fertile marshlands, and a fund that is being set up to help the shrimpers who are unable to make a living right now.

Besh is passionate about getting the word out there that Louisiana seafood is safe to eat.

On Sunday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) closed fishing in federal waters affected by the massive oil spill in the Gulf, which continues to drift towards Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

This area of the Gulf is prized for its shrimp, oyster and blue-crab fisheries, currently at their peak spawning period. While approximately 80 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported -- meaning most seafood lover's dinner plates will not be directly impacted by the spill -- the area's fishery is significant. In 2008, more than 1 billion pounds of finfish and shellfish were harvested from the Gulf region. Experts predict that Louisiana's fishing industry alone could face a $2.5 billion loss.

"This is iconic American seafood," says Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute. "When you get past looking at the volume of seafood affected, you start looking at the lives impacted, and it's a tough row to hoe for those fishermen."