83% of US Seafood is imported according to the Wall Street Journal, and the Gulf of Mexico only accounts for 2% of U.S. consumption. The total value of all shrimp and oyster production in 2008 was about $420 million, not $40 billion. You’re seeing a combination of fear mongering and litigation stoking.
Where do shrimp and oysters come from?
Shrimp China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, USA…. (Total US is less than 4% of the world production and much of that is not from the gulf)
Oysters largely come from Washington State and Maryland…. the industry was already about to go under… you may remember about a year ago the FDA warning people not to eat raw oysters…. Most commercial production of oysters these days (like in Asia) is done in aquaculture – big farms with specially designed habitat – not scraping the bottom of the ocean randomly….
