No mo' po'boy?

The oyster po'boy-a New Orleans creation-is considered by many as one of the world's truly great sandwiches. Currently, the Gulf supplies most of America's oysters, but for how long? While 83% of seafood is imported, two-thirds of the oysters consumed come from the gulf.
 
That percentage is likely to drop drastically this year. Since the BP Deep Horizon rig sank on April 22nd, most of the oyster fishing areas have been closed. How long the areas will remain closed, and what the ultimate damage will be, remains unclear. According to the Economist, oysters metabolize oil poorly, and mollusks, being filter feeders, run a high risk of exposure. The season's damage may be done already. Customers are staying away, both from the seafood and the region itself, which depends on summer tourism.
 
So far, Florida has spent $15 million of BP's dollars to protect the coasts, another $7 million to tell travelers that Florida beaches are still open. One of every five sales tax dollars collected by Florida comes from tourism, the industry which employs one million Floridians. The New York Times report-ed on Sunday that tourism accounts for $60 billion of Florida's economy.
 
Closer to the scene of the oil spill, the economic impact is huge. In Harrison County, MS, due north of the spill, the total economic activity at risk was reported in Computerworld in excess of $1.4 billion. And, there are more than 50 counties in harm's way, from the Florida Keys to the coast of Texas- and that's not counting the exposure to BP if the oil flows around the Keys and up the East Coast. Of course, BP had income last year of $63.4 billion, but that number may start looking small. Financial Times reported Saturday that BP faces a bill than analysts say could run to $40 billion and the threat of being forced out of a country that provides a quarter of its production and almost one-third of its reserves.
 
Estimates of the amount of oil spilling into the gulf from the collapsed rig have been all over the map, and still no one seems to have a good estimate. Apparently BP is now capturing one-half of the flow. But, the question is, half of what? The problem is we've seen estimates that the spill is 4 times as large as the Exxon Valdez, U.S. officials say the leak is 40,000 gallons a day and others, notably Steve Werely of Purdue say that every three days this spill is equivalent to the total Valdez spill, dumping 100,000 gallons daily, with no real end in sight.
 
Of course, the economic impact doesn't include the impact on animals. Julia Kamari Drapkin in the Global Post writes that the species most in danger are the North Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, whales, dolphins, pelicans, oysters, shrimp and blue crab. The Bluefin Tuna, which are famous for sushi, typically spawn in the gulf in the spring. They are now in danger of becoming extinct, as is the brown pelican that just came off the endangered species list in 2009.
 
The Gulf Oil disaster is the subject of several House and Senate hearings this week and in coming weeks. Under US Law, BP must pay all clean-up costs. Congress is now working to increase the $75 million cap on other damages. In addition, according to the Financial Times, the Justice Department is looking at criminal charges similar to those deemed to have been broken when the Exxon Valdez tank spilt oil which resulted in a criminal fine of $125 million. BP said in written testimony to the Senate subcommittee on Thursday that it had already paid out $53 million. In addition, BP said it had the financial flexibility to deal with the liabilities of the spill, which to date BP has calculated at $1.43 billion.
 
Yesterday, BP announced a plan to temporarily suspend its quarterly dividend. If the plan is approved, it will be the first cut or pass on the dividend since 1992. In addition, the US has called for BP to put $20 billion in an independently established fund as a partial payment for reimbursing victims, taking some of the compensation decisions out of BP's hands.
 
More to come...
 
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