Louisiana officials have announced the launch of GulfSource.org, making public results from all seafood, water and sediment safety testing conducted since the 2010 BP Oil Spill under the Louisiana Seafood Safety Plan.
GulfSource.org allows the general public full access to information from the Louisiana departments of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), Health and Hospitals (LDHH), Environmental Quality (LDEQ), and Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) on how testing is conducted. Users on the site can scroll through all available samples or search by area, date or sample type.
“Though we’ve been testing seafood, water and sediment since April 30, 2010 in response to the BP oil spill, the information has been difficult to widely distribute to the public until the launch of GulfSource.org,” said LDWF Secretary Robert Barham. “We hope the public will utilize GulfSource.org to find out what the safety test results in seafood from areas they fish or from waters they consume reveal. What is truly encouraging is that, to date, not a single sample has failed our safety tests. We now we have the tool to share those results with the general public.”
“The public should have easy access to food safety information and GulfSource.org is a great companion to the work we’re already doing with EatSafe.La.Gov,” DHH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein said. “Transparency of critical health and safety information is a top priority at DHH, where we worked with our state agency partners to publish seafood testing results almost immediately after the BP disaster and throughout the following year. GulfSource takes that work to the next level and allows the world to see for itself that we have the most-tested seafood out there.”
Louisiana officials reached an agreement with BP to test seafood, sediment and water across the Louisiana coast for traces of toxins, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and for dispersants, called Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DOSS). The agreement funds the testing program, called the Louisiana Seafood Safety Plan, up to $18 million for a total of three years ($6 million per year).
To date, none of the samples tested have showed levels of PAHs or dispersants near the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-established “level of concern.” In fact, of the samples that showed any minute traces of PAHs, none were above background levels (the levels found in seafood before the oil spill). Test results for dispersants are also available on GulfSource.org.
“Now it will be easier for people outside of Louisiana to know what we already know – the seafood is safe and as good as ever,” said Peggy Hatch of DEQ. “The goal of the plan was to ensure seafood safety for all the people who enjoy the best seafood in the world. With the launch of this new website, anyone will be able to see the results. This is the culmination of a statewide effort from many agencies to develop and execute a sampling plan like none other.”
“Our office has a long history of ensuring the quality and safety of Louisiana food,” said Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M. “It’s our duty to continue this obligation to our Louisiana seafood industry and the consumers and patrons that enjoy shrimp, crab and finfish.”
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