(BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala.) – With conflicting reports on where the oil is in the Gulf, many commercial fishermen fear the seafood is not safe to eat yet. More than 100 people showed up to a community meeting in Bayou La Batre tonight to express renewed concerns regarding the spill.
122 days since the spill and while the oil well is capped, some say it’s going to be months if not years until life is back to normal. “It’s too early for me to see. None of the dealers are open. They’re not buying, and everyone’s scared and I don’t blame them,” says comemercial fisherman Eric Poole.
Poole has been fishing all his life. He says forget what the experts say. There’s still oil out there and he’s seen it on fish himself. Poole says, “I wouldn’t eat it myself. When you wash them, there’s an oil to it. You can smell the difference. We can tell a difference and it’s not right.”
Someone else tells LOCAL 15, “It makes me sick because we grew up here with pristine beaches and the gulf is beautiful and now look at it.” And not only are people still afraid to eat the seafood but more than 100 days after the spill and people say they’re still experiencing mental and physical strain.” One commercial fisherman says he quit drinking 15 years ago. He started again after the spill. Fisherman say they’re also upset with the claims process, many of them say they’re still waiting on money and have yet to get a check.
