Oil Spill In The Gulf Could Mean Higher Prices For Tulsa Seafood

By Tara Vreeland, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The environmental disaster caused by the massive oil spill threatens the ocean's wildlife and the world's seafood supply.

On Friday, officials closed shrimping, fishing and oyster harvest areas near the Louisiana coast by the Mississippi state line.

Forty percent of seafood that's harvested in the U.S. comes from the Gulf. That means restaurants and stores will surely be affected. But Green Country store owners say it's hard to say just how much the oil spill will impact their businesses.

5/1/2010 Related Story: Oil Spill Off Gulf Coast Threatens Oklahoma Seafood Market

Ed Richard moved to Tulsa from Louisiana and wanted it to feel like home.

"There was no food like in Louisiana so I decided I wanted to make some," Richard said.

So he opened Hebert's Specialty Meats, a restaurant that says 'southern.'

Fried shrimp and oysters are Hebert's fan favorites. But they're in jeopardy due to the oil spill.

"Our store is all about southern Louisiana and so all of our products come from southern Louisiana and the Gulf," Richard said.

Herbert's receives its seafood shipment three times a week. Richard says since the spill, he's been in frequent contact with the fishermen.

"I don't think we are going to have an immediate effect on the shrimp supply but it will have some affect on the price," he said.

Bodean's Seafood Restaurant flies in fresh seafood twice a day. The manager says they have called their suppliers every two hours.

"Some of our suppliers in Louisiana and Florida are being told its okay to fish for today and to go out and catch as much as they can," Kieron St. Ledger, Bodean's Seafood Restaurant Manager, said.

Both restaurants say a potential price increase is the biggest change Tulsa seafood fans may see.

"We can't tell offhand how it's going to affect or how the spill will be in effect for," Kieron said. "Hopefully we can absorb some of those costs but ultimately there may be a price increase."

"Right now our prices are the same," Richard said. "If I ordered some for today the prices are the same. In the next couple of weeks they'll probably go up but they don't know how much. It depends on the market, the supply, and the anxiety I guess of the people that are fishing them."

Richard says the seafood that will be sold will be safe to eat. He says it's too expensive for fishermen to send their boats out to shrimp if they are not going to catch a good product.