Safe and Sustainable Florida Seafood

By Eric Schwaab

Blessed with the nation’s second longest coastline, Florida’s recreational and commercial fishing businesses are important economic drivers, not only for the state, but for the national economy. These activities benefit residents and visitors alike, supporting Florida’s $57 billion hospitality industry.

Not only is Florida home to the nation’s largest recreational saltwater angling community, commercially-caught seafood from Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic waters is also an iconic draw to the state’s many fine restaurants.

Together, Florida commercial and recreational fishing represent a significant part of the $72 billion generated and 1.9 million full and part time fishing industry jobs supported annually across the country.
At NOAA Fisheries, we work to rebuild and sustain the nation’s fisheries and the jobs that depend on them by promoting management approaches that will achieve both sustainable fisheries and vibrant coastal communities.

For the Gulf of Mexico, last year’s BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill had a significant impact on both recreational and commercial fishing industries.

Working with these industries, NOAA Fisheries and its state partners closed fishing in areas directly affected by the spill as it spread – ensuring consumer confidence that no tainted fish could enter the market.
A comprehensive testing plan was developed to test for both petroleum and dispersant contamination. At the height of the spill, more than a third of federal waters in the Gulf, over 88,000 square miles, were closed to fishing.

With the U.S. Coast Guard, we enforced closure boundaries and, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, we developed and carried out a comprehensive plan for testing Gulf seafood.

The extensive seafood sampling and testing plan allowed areas to open only when every piece of seafood sampled there passed both sensory and chemical testing. We were precautionary on purpose: when there was a potential for tainted seafood, waters were closed, and they could only be opened when we could prove the seafood from those waters was safe to eat. In addition to other tests, NOAA and FDA worked to develop a chemical test to detect traces of dispersant in fish tissue.

Last October, the agencies announced the results: every sample tested was far below the safety threshold established by FDA, and over 99 percent of the thousands of samples tested showed no detectable residue.

Following testing, areas were gradually reopened with all fisheries fully opened as of April 2011.

Because of the hard work and cooperation of Gulf fishermen, seafood processors, and state, local and federal health and fisheries officials, American consumers can feel confident in the quality and safety of Gulf seafood.

As the interest in safety and sustainability of U.S. fisheries takes center stage, one example of a consumer-oriented program that is helping promote seafood in the wake of the oil spill is underway in the Gulf region.

The campaign, called ‘Gulf Wild’ was developed by the Gulf Reef-Fish Catch Shares Alliance, a group of commercial fishermen from throughout the Gulf States that harvest red snapper, grouper and other popular seafood species from the Gulf. Guided by a diverse advisory body of scientists, environmental groups and chefs, Gulf Wild is proving to be an innovative, market-based approach for ensuring the sustainability standards under which U.S. fisheries are managed.

Managing fisheries to be sustainable is a dynamic process of constant change and adaptation to an ever-changing environment. As NOAA Fisheries works to end overfishing in the U.S., environmental factors, such as pollution, ocean acidification, and climate change, present growing challenges that we all must address to ensure the long-term sustainability of our nation’s fisheries.

By raising public awareness of these concerns and their potential impact, we can better ensure long-term sustainability of our nation’s marine resources and their enjoyment by future generations. Florida and the other Gulf states will continue to play a critical role in achieving this objective.

To keep informed about the status of our nation’s marine fisheries please visit NOAA Fisheries at FishWatch.gov for up-to-date profiles of popular U.S. seafood species.

Eric Schwaab is the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA Fisheries Service.