Coast Guard vessels work to clean up oil spill in the Gulf.
/ US Coast Guard
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico isn't just an environmental tragedy, it's an economic disaster for that area's fishing industry.
The government has already shut down fishing in the Gulf, from the Mississippi River to the Florida Panhandle. That may eventually put more money into the pockets of fishermen on the Grand Strand. "As less Snapper and Grouper is available in the Gulf, certainly prices and demand could benefit fishermen here in South Carolina," said Tom Swatzel, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
But Swatzel says no one in South Carolina wants to see fellow fishermen harmed economically. "Certainly there's a lot of sympathy and I think the fishermen in this area certainly appreciate the benefit, but are sorry for the reasoning behind it."
Swatzel points out the spill could have a negative impact on fishing waters off our coast, though it's still hundreds of miles away. "The Gulf Stream is very powerful and if there is enough oil over a long enough time period, certainly some of the projections are that it could indeed reach the Atlantic Seaboard area which could certainly devastate our fisheries also."
One fishing boat captain based in Pawleys Island thinks the spill won't be good for anybody, including the Grand Strand fishing industry. "The commercial people down in Louisiana, the recreational people, they got to go somewhere. They've got an investment, so they're going to end up here. So what does that mean? That means our fishing pressure here is going to be huge," said Eric Heiden, a charter boat captain.
Heiden says the end result will be the consumer will just have to pay more for fresh fish.
40 percent of the seafood that is caught in the continental U.S. comes from the Gulf of Mexico.
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