South Jersey Seafood Joints Feeling Effects of Oil Spill

Gulf oil spill already has taken its toll on the area’s seafood industry

Despite the fact that the Gulf of Mexico is hundreds of miles away from the Jersey coastline, the oil spill already has taken its toll on the area’s seafood industry.

Restaurants as well as suppliers are posting signs to rally help in this crisis.

“Get involved before the oil gets to your shore. We pray for those who have lost their fishing industry and their wildlife,” a sign posted at the Crab Shack in Brigantine reads, according to the Press of Atlantic City.

Sign designer and distributor, Pete Caprio, who owns the Crab Shack, believes tourists need to get involved too. “Write your congressman,” he urges in one of his signs. “Why wait?” he told the Press of Atlantic City.

So many in the seafood industry are looking at higher prices. The price of shrimp alone has already gone up 10 to 20 percent, as the majority of shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico.

More price hikes loom in the near future, and not just for seafood. Consumers could also see the price of oil rise, Barry Applebaum, owner of Grilladelphia in North Wildwood told the Press of Atlantic City. Whether due to the spill or the cost of cleanup, the cost of transporting seafood cross-country will be driven up too as the cost of diesel is sure to spike.

Strains on the supply of fish and seafood in this country could also lead to more demand for seafood from foreign countries, Mike Crean, general manager of Dock’s Oyster House in Atlantic City told the Press.

“The downside, though, is the way that a lot of other countries raise fish,” Crean said. “Honestly, it’s deplorable. They inject hormones, things like that. Essentially, there’s too much fish in the aquariums.”

Most people worry whether any of the oil slick will make its way around Florida and up the Atlantic Coast. While the mere possibility of oil along the New Jersey coast sends shoregoers into a panic, it is cause for concern for those in the seafood industry as well.

“It would be very similar to the long-term impact on some of the Gulf species,” executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, Greg DiDomenico said. “In New Jersey, many species depend on estuaries for part of their life-cycle. If those areas are compromised, you could see a situation where fish eggs don’t survive.”

At Barbera Seafood and Produce in Atlantic City, owner Dominic Alcaro is thinking about worst case scenarios.

“Picture the whole seafood industry shut down,” Alcaro said. “Not only that, picture how much that would hurt the whole Jersey shore if tourists don’t come down here. We depend on that. I pray to God that doesn’t happen here.”
 

Contact Us