From Oil Spill to Our Tables

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is rife with tragedy - the least of which was all the souls lost in the accident.  Additionally, the oil leak produces a continued assault on the environs and the animals within that we will now see hit us in New York on our plates and wallets.  As weather continues to be an obstacle for cleaning up the BP oil spill in the gulf region, about 80% of the protective barriers that have been installed to contain the spill have been damaged.  With about 5k barrels of oil still leaking every day, fishing in parts of the gulf has shutdown fishing for at least 10 days.  Outside of Alaska and Hawaii, the gulf region accounts for 25% of all the pounds of fish in the US.

So what does this mean for my fellow NYC shellfish lovers?  Well, with Mother’s Day right around the corner – one of the biggest dining days of the year – the supplies will likely be more strained and we’ll start to see prices rise, or even the removal of certain seafood dishes from restaurant menus.  Thus, your shellfish dining experience might begin to change rapidly if we approach a food shortage.  Thanks British Petroleum!

While not all seafood obtained from the gulf will be affected – many parts of the region still can safely harvest shrimp, for instance – panic may also drive up prices to contribute to an overall inflation of the seafood market.  BP has also just reported that they were able to cap one of the three leaks but, unfortunately, this does not lessen the amount of oil flowing into the sea.  However, at least it is a step in the right direction.  The question that no one is how quickly can they cap the other two leaks and how quickly can crews clean up the already released oil?  Right now it’s not a question anyone is able to answer.

So what I suggest is for you to get your shellfish fix NOW while the current product is still in the distribution system.  Fishing shut down only a few days ago so there is a short window before we begin seeing the effects. My recommendations to minimize the impact on your wallet in the near future:

• Check the restaurant’s website and then call ahead.  Find out how (or if) the restaurant is experiencing availability or pricing changes caused by the oil spill.  The price of your favorite dish – or even it’s availability – might make you change your dining destination.
• You’ll need to tap into the extreme ends of the spectrum – small establishments or the mega restaurant chains.  Smaller establishments (talking about the 1 or 2 location kind here) are more likely to have local northeast seafood suppliers and the big chains like Red Lobster (gasp!) obtain their supplies from a variety of sources across the world so effects should be minimized.  The challenge most likely will lie with patronizing the mid-sized establishments such as Legal Seafood or even slightly smaller restaurant groups like Daniel Boulud’s that have 5 or so locations as these restaurants will most likely be obtaining a significant amount of fish from the gulf.  As with the point above, always ask as you might be surprised to hear that they don’t use the supplies down south at all and you could be in the clear.

If you’d like to read more, here is an interesting article from the New York Times.  I anticipate that more media outlets will be addressing this issue and all it's implications (including the impact on the people whose livelihood's depend on capturing and distributing fish from this region).