Given the disconcerting reports about tainted seafood showing up in fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, I've decided not to eat seafood from that region anymore. Here's more on this story, as ably covered by Think Progress:
Now, scientists are expressing grave concern over the shocking number of fish they’ve discovered in inland waterways and the Gulf of Mexico with skin lesions, fin rot, spots, liver blood clots and other health problems. Richard Snyder, director of the University of West Florida Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, calls the discovery of so many diseased fish “a huge red flag."
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Many of the symptoms scientists see in Gulf fish are consistent with oil exposure. If these recent trends prove to be a result of the BP disaster, then this could very well be a sign of worse things to come. Scientists currently working in the gulf stress that “findings so far demonstrate that studies need to continue far into the future,” again emphasizing the critical need for significant investment in scientific study and the long-term restoration of the Gulf.
It's not healthy and safe for us to eat seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. Always ask where your seafood comes from when you go to eat at restaurants. Find out if they're sustainably farmed, or what countries they come from.
It's what I've been doing lately. I ask at my grocery store where the fish comes from, and look at the country of origin labels on the seafood. I usually get seafood such as salmon and halibut from the Northwest Pacific and shop according to the Online Seafood Watch Guide for Sustainable Seafood Choices. I don't get shrimp or oysters from the Gulf of Mexico.
You also can find out which restaurants in your town support sustainable fishing, and you can support that restaurant by checking out this website here. I won't let my health and my family's health be compromised by the pollution of oil producers like BP, so I am making more of an effort to be aware about what goes on in our diet, especially seafood.
We really are what we eat, after all.