Gulf Seafood Tested, Results 'Immaculate'

In a rare spot of good news, an analysis of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico came black clean of oil or chemical dispersants—in one word, "immaculate." The Daily Beast commissioned a lab to test shrimp, lump crabmeat, and red grouper and found that all three, like the control samples sourced from the Atlantic Ocean, had undetectable or extremely minute amounts of contamination.

Unfortunately for the fishing industry, it is likely going to take many more studies like this one to convince buyers that Gulf seafood is safe. A recent AP poll shows that 54% of Americans don't believe Gulf seafood is safe to eat. “Normally, at this time, the buyers are hunting me down and this year it seems like I’m working on securing buyers,” says one third-generation shrimper. (More shrimp stories.)