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Gulf Symposium Gathers Researchers to Review Post-Oil-Spill Fisheries Outlook

Two-day Florida meeting aims to chart course for a healthy Gulf
Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Symposium

Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Symposium

I’m about to head to the inaugural Gulf Fisheries Symposium in St. Pete Beach, Florida. The two-day conference brings leading experts together to discuss the Gulf of Mexico fishery two years after the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

We’ll hear from scientists, managers and conservationists, including Dr. Guy Harvey, AFTCO’s Bill Shedd, Bill Hogarth, former assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, and Florida Senator Jack Latvala, a republican from St. Petersburg.

I’ll be particularly interested to hear the evidence from a slate of researchers who have investigated the oil-spill aftermath. I’ve seen rosy stories pointing to plentiful fisheries in the Gulf, and I’ve seen other reports suggesting deep-water oil contamination.

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I don’t know that we’ll have any answers from this initial review of the material. But I hope some light is shed on the truth for the Gulf, and that a map is sketched for the future. Stay tuned to this blog for more coverage.

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