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"Gavin Gibbons from the National Fisheries Institute gives a resounding YES. Anyone who has worked with me in the kitchen knows that I am very conscientious about the safety of the proteins we cook. During the oil spill, I couldn&amp;#039;t help but wonder if it&amp;#039;d be okay to eat fish and shellfish from the area. I decided I needed to hear what the industry thinks, so I gave Gavin a call. Here are his thoughts:  GK: Is it really safe to eat fish and seafood from the Gulf?  GG: Seafood that&amp;#039;s coming out of the Gulf is probably the most tested seafood on earth. The NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], the FDA [Food and Drug Administration], and local and regional regulators, like the Louisiana Department of Health, are all testing it. They&amp;#039;ve developed thousands of tests and nothing has been rejected as unsafe for consumption.  GK: Given the extent of the oil spill, why isn&amp;#039;t the seafood contaminated?  GG: One hundred-plus days ago, regulators came to the seafood community and said, &amp;quot;Close areas to fishing where there has been oil, where there is oil, where there might be oil.&amp;quot; The precautionary closure system worked. Nothing was harvested from the Gulf when contamination was present. Before any one was allowed to begin fishing or harvesting in the area again, the waters and all the species were tested.   And, remember: Fin fish swim away from oil. That may sound stupid, but fish don&amp;#039;t want to be in that kind of environment. The Gulf&amp;#039;s a massive body of water and there are places that are untouched and pristine. Finfish and others that could move, did move and that&amp;#039;s been evident. We&amp;#039;ve seen harvests off the coast of Texas that have been completely unaffected.  The potential for impact has been on areas like the marshes and oyster beds. Oysters can&amp;#039;t move, so if they&amp;#039;re coated in oil, that&amp;#039;s a different story. They&amp;#039;ve been disproportionately affected and many oyster beds remain closed.  GK: What about Gulf shrimp?  GG: The Louisiana shrimp season just opened Monday. The grounds were determined safe and have been reopened. We don&amp;#039;t know how this event will affect future crops. Did the juveniles die? Were they driven into areas where they couldn&amp;#039;t survive?  In summary, seafood is safe and healthy. Continuing to eat seafood is as much about the health of the Gulf as it is about the health of Americans. Don&amp;#039;t opt out because of unfounded fears.    Back in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen, we were happy to hear this report, since we love shrimp, fish, and all manner of seafood. Two of my favorites are our take on shrimp cocktail from the August issue and the caramelized chile stir-fry from the September issue.     "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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