NOAA CONFIRMS SICK FISH IN GULF

[Old Dog]

PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL
2011 05 25
Written by
Kimberly Blair

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is standing by its declaration that the Gulf of Mexico seafood is safe to eat, but for the first time it's warning anglers that some fish are sick and may pose health problems if handled or eaten raw.
The agency is telling anglers to toss fish that have lesions, fin rot or discolored skin back into the Gulf and to be careful about handling them. This warning comes just one week before the June 1 opening of recreational red snapper season.

NOAA says its fisheries division has sampled finfish and has not observed any with lesions. But it acknowledged that fishermen and scientists have recently reported and documented lesions on fish they are catching in federal waters off Alabama.
"NOAA Fisheries Services ... takes these reports seriously and will continue to work with the fishing and seafood industries, academic, state and federal partners to characterize the extent and possible implications of lesions on Gulf finfish," the agency said.

The reports of sick fish correlate with areas most impacted by the BP oil spill, said Jim Cowan Jr., the Louisiana State University Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences scientist who is at the center of the sick fish studies off the Alabama coast. But he said there is no hard data to connect the sick fish to the oil spill.
A week ago, LSU scientists determined that lesions on red snapper found within 20 miles of Orange Beach, Ala., were infected with two bacteria common in the Gulf environment — Vibrio vulnificus and Photobacterium damselae.

Cowan said Photobacterium damselae could be responsible for a massive fish loss and can pose serious health problems for humans under certain situations. The bacteria can enter the human body through cuts during handling of diseased fish and if consumed raw.

But John Stein, director of NOAA Fisheries seafood testing program, said the bacteria are susceptible to heat.
"If you cook it, you destroy it and the risks go way, way down," he said.
Stein said the LSU findings are preliminary and NOAA, the Food and Drug Adminstration, Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama and a host of other state, federal and university scientists, including some at the University of West Florida, are working to better understand how widespread the problem is.
The Sea Lab is collecting fish samples this week for further scrutiny by the FDA. A broader survey is poised to begin to determine whether the sick fish extend to areas beyond Alabama coastal waters. And NOAA is setting up a website on which recreational anglers can report any sick fish they find.
Stein was careful not to raise too many red flags until more research is done.

But Cowan said he believes the problem is more widespread.
"I'm very worried because I've talked to both commercial and recreational fishermen who have been in the business 30 to 40 years and no one has seen anything like this," he said.
He's sure recreational anglers will discover what commercial fishermen and scientists have been finding in their catches for months — sick fish from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Panama City.
Commercial fisherman Donnie Waters has been fishing the Gulf since 1974. He was shocked to learn that the sick fish he's been catching and sending to scientists for study are infected with the dangerous bacteria.

"I'm seeing things I've never seen before," he said. "I'm deeply concerned about the long-term impact of the fishery of the eastern Gulf."

[illinoisfisherman]

That is just sad.

[MudDucker]

"Stein was careful not to raise too many red flags until more research is done."

Really, that sounds like exactly what he is doing.

Could be oil related or it could be a natural phenomena. I've seen seasons when the lesions were bad and as far as I know, no oil then. Old timers said it was weather related stress that caused it.

[Juan]

Hopefully it's just another case of NOAA being wrong again

[FUTCHCAIRO]

I WOULD BET MY LAST DOLLAR THAT IT IS WEATHER RELATED. WHEN THERE IS VERY LITTLE RAIN AND FRESH WATER GOING INTO THE GULF IS WHEN WE HAVE THE SO CALLED(RED TIDE) AND OTHER THINGS LIKE WORMS IN THE FISH AND ON THE SKIN.
PA JUST AN EDUCATED GUESS FROM EXPERIENCE.
SEMPER FI