What You Missed: Open for Questions on Gulf Seafood Safety with Dr. Lubchenco

Posted by White House

Yesterday, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Dr. Jane Lubchenco, dropped by the White House for a live chat on the safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. You can check out the full video of the chat or skip to the questions you’re most interested in below.

For more information on the safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, click here.

• Opening remarks
• How do we know our seafood in markets and restaurants is safe?
• Is the federal government testing seafood for dispersants?
• Will seafood from the gulf be identified by its packaging?
• What are the long term effects of the oil spill on seafood from the Gulf?
• How is the federal government working with states to determine which waters are safe for fishing?
• What is the government doing to ensure that people aren’t illegally fishing in federal waters?
• Should we be concerned about fish from outside the Gulf of Mexico?
• What is NOAA’s role in ensuring seafood safety vs. the FDA or the Coast Guard?
• Will the price of seafood from the gulf go up dramatically because of the oil spill?
• Will inspectors be dockside to inspect boats and seafood?
• Are we accepting help from other countries or other organizations that are helping to test seafood?
• Is the government granting any waivers to fish in waters that are currently closed?
• Which areas have been opened and how many areas are currently open for fishing?
• What is the process of sensory and chemical tests that seafood samples go through?
• How long will the government continue to test fish in the Gulf of Mexico?
• Has inland fishing been affected by the oil spill?
• How can people help support commercial fishers in the Gulf?
• If origin labeling is not mandatory, how can consumers find out where their seafood is coming from?
• Is NOAA working with independent scientists on the seafood safety issue?
• Conclusion

Stay up to date with Dr. Lubchenco and NOAA on Facebook.

Open for Questions: Gulf Seafood Safety with Dr. Jane Lubchenco

Posted by White House

On Monday, 2 PM EDT, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Jane Lubchenco will host a live chat to answer your questions about the safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.

The men and women of the Gulf who make their livelihood harvesting fish, shrimp, and oysters have been among those hardest hit by this spill. Enjoying some local seafood is one simple way Americans can support the people of the Gulf who have been battered by this spill. If you have questions about the safety of seafood from the Gulf, be sure to tune in Monday at 2 PM at WhiteHouse.gov/live. You can also submit your questions ahead of time via Facebook or our webform.

Seafood from Open Gulf Waters is Safe to Eat

Posted by White House

With the ongoing reopening of Gulf fisheries, fishermen are going back to work and Americans can confidently and safely enjoy Gulf seafood again.

Consumers need to know that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe and fishermen need to be able to sell their products with confidence. That’s why there’s a comprehensive, coordinated, and multi-agency program to ensure the safety of Gulf Coast seafood. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are working with other Federal agencies and state officials to closely monitor the situation and its potential impact on the safety of seafood.

Seafood from open waters is safe to eat. Here are the facts:

1. Every seafood sample from reopened waters has passed testing.
2. When waters were impacted by oil or at risk of being impacted by oil, they were closed to fisherman.
3. Areas considered for reopening must be free of oil before testing even starts.
4. Dispersants were not applied in areas that are opened for fishing, and tests of reopened waters do not show the presence of any dispersants.
5. FDA and NOAA test samples for oil and dispersants, and every sample from reopened waters has passed those tests.

Here are more resources to get the latest information on seafood safety:

From FDA.gov:

• FDA's Role In Seafood Safety
• Key Questions and Answers
• Seafood Safety and Dispersants Fact Sheet
• Reopening of Closed Waters Information by State

From NOAA.gov:

• NOAA’s Role in Seafood Safety
• NOAA, FDA, and Gulf Coast State Officials Affirm Commitment to Ensuring Safety of Gulf Coast Seafood
• Assessing Gulf Coast Seafood

We will continue to update this blog post with the latest on Gulf seafood safety, so check back.

New Report: 74% of Oil in BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has been Contained or Mitigated

Posted by White House

Today, a panel of government scientists released a report which said that the vast majority of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed, recovered from the wellhead or dispersed much of which is in the process of being degraded. A significant amount of this is the direct result of the federal government’s aggressive response to the spill.

The chart below outlines the breakdown of what has happened to the oil released into the Gulf of Mexico since the oil spill began in April:

These interagency findings were generated using a scientific tool called the Oil Budget Calculator, which employs a combination of direct measurements and the best scientific estimates available. The calculator is based on 4.9 million barrels of oil released into the Gulf, the government’s latest estimates of the flow rate from Monday. More than 25 of the best government and independent scientists contributed to or reviewed the calculator and its calculation methods. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), as well as academic scientists are continuing to work to refine these calculations.

While we welcome the news contained in this report, we continue to be extremely concerned about what this oil spill means for the health of the Gulf ecosystem and the millions of people who depend on the Gulf for their livelihoods and enjoyment. To that end, our response effort will continue until the well is killed, the oil is cleaned up and until all of the people are made whole again.

For more information about the ongoing Administration-wide response to BP Oil Spill, visit RestoreTheGulf.gov.