Commerce secretary worries about 'misperceptions' of Gulf seafood after spill

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Monday said he is concerned that there are “misperceptions” about the quality of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico following the massive oil spill in the region.

“We need to let the American people know that the seafood being harvested from the Gulf is safe to eat,” Locke said during a tour of a Louisiana seafood processing plant. “I think there have been a lot of misperceptions out there. A lot of testing is done before we open state and federal waters to fishing. We’re being very thoughtful, very careful and very deliberate.”

Locke took a 20-minute tour of the Lafitte Frozen Foods seafood processing plant Monday morning in Lafitte, La., a fishing village about 25 miles south of New Orleans. It was Locke’s third visit to the Gulf since June. Locke observed machines that separated, peeled and washed shrimp from North Carolina and Texas. 

He was joined by a manager of the Lafitte plant, who said business was down about 80 percent due to the spill.
 

Locke later met with company officials privately before leaving for lunch with seafood industry representatives and restaurant owners affected by the spill.