Louisiana’s unique and fragile coastline contains some of the most fertile waters in the world, supporting a huge seafood and fishing industry that supplies most of America’s seafood. The delicate Coastal Prairies and Marsh Eco region are a vital component of the local food chain, covering over 10,000 square miles of Louisiana and providing thousands of tons of food for shrimp, oysters and fish. These coastal marshes are the largest contiguous wetland system in the lower 48 states and any contamination of this area by crude oil and toxic chemical dispersants will have a devastating effect on the local economy of Louisiana.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has already closed the federal waters from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Florida panhandle to all commercial and recreational fishing while it monitors the oil spill’s effect on the marine environment. Local fishermen fear that even if the ecosystem that supports fish stocks doesn’t collapse, the fish and shellfish that are left in the area may be classed as being unfit for human consumption. The governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has already asked the federal government for a declaration of “commercial fisheries failure”, seeking financial help for the area’s commercial and recreational fishing businesses.

“I want to be very clear on this point — this is not just about our coast,” Jindal said. “It is fundamentally about our way of life in Louisiana.”

Local charter boat captains, hotels, tour companies, restaurants, seafood packagers and almost every other business in Louisiana from Venice to New Orleans could suffer severe financial hardship as a direct result of the oil spill that, as of Friday May 14th, is now believed to be over TEN TIMES bigger than BP has been claiming. It is now believed that up to 70,000 BARRELS of oil could be gushing into the Gulf of Mexico every day, which is the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez oil spill every 4 days. If these estimates are correct the overall effect on Louisiana’s economy could dwarf recent events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav.

Containment booms are being deployed to help protect the coastline from the approaching oil slick, but there are only 100 miles of booms available to protect the whole 500 mile area of coastline from east Texas to Panama City in Florida. And the unique nature of the coastline with it’s many inlets, bays and bayous, means that closer to 2000 miles of boom would be needed. And any kind of bad weather involving high winds or waves makes the booms largely ineffective anyway.