CT seafood suppliers to feel impact
Nearly 3 million gallons of crude oil has spilled
Updated: Monday, 03 May 2010, 6:22 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 03 May 2010, 6:11 PM EDTSouthington, Connecticut (WTNH) - Federal officials are vowing to make sure fishermen and others are compensated for their losses. But consumers will be paying the price for this environmental disaster.
So far nearly 3 million gallons of crude oil has spilled since the deadly offshore drilling rig explosion. Now more than 68-hundred-square miles of federal fishing areas are closed, mostly east of the Mississippi.
In Connecticut, seafood retailers are already being asked to hold the line on orders.
Chad Simoneaux is the owner of Gulf Shrimp Company, which sells retail and wholesale seafood. He's monitoring the environmental mess bubbling near Louisiana.
“The supply of our oysters is getting tight. Certain fishing, like red snapper and things like that, has actually been shut down,” he said.
Oysters, red snapper and shrimp from the Gulf Coast region makes up about 30-percent of the seafood he sells to customers at his Southington store in the Plantsville section of town.
A huge shipment is expected Monday night to replenish the depleted inventory from the weekend, but suppliers are telling him this.
"They basically told us don't up your order,” Simoneaux said. “They'll be able to supply us with what we've been getting over the last couple years -- don't go and double our orders."
But this Louisiana native says consumers should expect to pay possibly up to 20-percent more as demand increases.
"If they don't get it under control, the cost of shrimp definitely is going to go up for us. Fried oysters at the local restaurants (and) fish fry this summer could go up."
Despite the increase in prices, he says he will keep buying.
“Definitely don't stop buying it because of the oil spill. We definitely want to support them,” Simoneaux confirmed. “If guys are asking for a little bit higher price, it's because they are getting less and need to get a little more money for their products."
This will be the second biggest hit on the fishing industry along the Gulf Coast in recent years. Hurricane Katrina, of course, had a huge impact.
Nearly 3 million gallons of crude oil has spilled
Updated: Monday, 03 May 2010, 6:22 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 03 May 2010, 6:11 PM EDTSouthington, Connecticut (WTNH) - Federal officials are vowing to make sure fishermen and others are compensated for their losses. But consumers will be paying the price for this environmental disaster.
So far nearly 3 million gallons of crude oil has spilled since the deadly offshore drilling rig explosion. Now more than 68-hundred-square miles of federal fishing areas are closed, mostly east of the Mississippi.
In Connecticut, seafood retailers are already being asked to hold the line on orders.
Chad Simoneaux is the owner of Gulf Shrimp Company, which sells retail and wholesale seafood. He's monitoring the environmental mess bubbling near Louisiana.
“The supply of our oysters is getting tight. Certain fishing, like red snapper and things like that, has actually been shut down,” he said.
Oysters, red snapper and shrimp from the Gulf Coast region makes up about 30-percent of the seafood he sells to customers at his Southington store in the Plantsville section of town.
A huge shipment is expected Monday night to replenish the depleted inventory from the weekend, but suppliers are telling him this.
"They basically told us don't up your order,” Simoneaux said. “They'll be able to supply us with what we've been getting over the last couple years -- don't go and double our orders."
But this Louisiana native says consumers should expect to pay possibly up to 20-percent more as demand increases.
"If they don't get it under control, the cost of shrimp definitely is going to go up for us. Fried oysters at the local restaurants (and) fish fry this summer could go up."
Despite the increase in prices, he says he will keep buying.
“Definitely don't stop buying it because of the oil spill. We definitely want to support them,” Simoneaux confirmed. “If guys are asking for a little bit higher price, it's because they are getting less and need to get a little more money for their products."
This will be the second biggest hit on the fishing industry along the Gulf Coast in recent years. Hurricane Katrina, of course, had a huge impact.