DEEPWATERHORIZON(DWH)OILSPILL

June14,2010

ProtectingthePublicfromOilContaminatedSeafood:FisheryAreaClosureandSurveillancePlan

Aspartofthefederalgovernmentscomprehensiveeffortstoensureseafoodsafety,theNationalOceanic
andAtmosphericAdministration(NOAA),incoordinationwiththeU.S.FoodandDrugAdministration(FDA),
hastakenanaggressiveandprecautionaryapproachtopreventexposureofconsumerstopotentialseafood
contaminationintheGulfofMexico.Closingoiledareastofishingistheprimarytoolforpreventingthe
entryoftaintedfishandfisheryproductsintothemarketplace.Ongoingsamplingofseafoodwillhelpensure
thatclosuresareprotectingtheNationsseafoodsupply.

TheelementsoftheFederalstrategyforseafoodsafetyinclude:

FisheryAreaClosure:Underitsfirstemergencyrule,promulgatedonMay2,2010,andsubsequentlyrevised
onMay11,2010,NOAAFisherieshasclosed,andwillcontinuetoclose,areasintheGulfofMexicoinwhich
thereisvisibleoilonthesurface.NOAAisalsoclosingareaswhereNOAAhasevidenceofclearlydetectable
levelsofsubsurfaceoilfromtheBPDeepwaterHorizon(DWH)oilspill,aswellasareasthatdonotcurrently
havesurfaceoilbutwheretheagencyprojectstherewillbesurfaceoilbasedonNOAAs48to72hour
surfaceoiltrajectoryforecastsandsubsurfaceoillocations.Inaddition,NOAAhasclosed,andwillcontinue
toclose,a5milebufferareaaroundtheknownorprojectedoillocationsasaprecaution.Thisbufferarea
accountsforuncertaintiesintheactualboundariesoftheoilandmovementoffish.Todate,NOAAhasnot
observedanysubsurfaceoiloutsidetheboundariesoftheclosedarea.TheCoastGuardandNOAAare
monitoringtheclosedfederalareastoensurethatfishermenarenotfishingwithinthoseareasandwilltake
enforcementactionagainstfishermenviolatingtheclosureboundary.

Undertheirindividualauthorities,stateshaveclosed,andwillcontinuetoclose,areasintheGulfofMexico
inwatersundertheirjurisdiction.TheFDAisworkingwithbothNOAAandthestatestomonitorthesituation
andensurethatappropriateclosuresareinplace.Fishermenandconsumersshouldreportanyseafood
contaminatedbyoilto1888INFOFDA(18884636332)andincludeavailabledetailsonthelocationofthe
seafoodorcatch,kindofseafood,andsuspectedcontamination.

SurveillancePlan:NOAAwillcontinuetosamplefishinthevicinityoftheclosedareatoaccountforthe
possibilitythatcontaminatedfishmaymoveoutoftheclosedarea.NOAAhasbeentakingbaselinefish
tissuesamplesinareaswherethereiscurrentlynovisibleoil.NOAAalsohashistoricbaselinesamples,which
weretakenafterHurricanesKatrinaandRita.NOAAwillcomparethesurveillancesampleswiththebaseline
samplestoevaluatewhethercontaminatedfisharepresentoutsidetheclosedarea.Iffishsampleshave
elevatedlevelsofoilcompounds,itisanindicationthattheboundariesandbufferzonesoftheclosedarea
willneedtobeexpandedtoincludeareaswherecontaminatedfishhavebeenfound.IfNOAAfindsevidence
oftaintedfishoutsidetheclosurearea,NOAAwillreevaluatetheclosurecriteriaandwhethertheevidenceis
sufficienttowarrantchangestothecriteria.
DocksideSampling:NOAAisimplementingatargeteddocksidesamplingprogramandwillconducttestsof
fishproductsarrivingatdocksasanadditionallevelofscreeningtoensurethatfishcaughtfromoutsidethe
closedareaarenotcontaminated.NOAAwillverifythatthecatchwascaughtoutsideofaclosedareaeither
byvesselmonitoringsystemsthattrackthelocationofavesselorbyanonboardobserver.Iftaintedfish
arefoundindocksidesampling,NOAAwillnotifytheappropriateFDAandStateseafoodofficialswhohave
theauthoritytopreventoiledfishfromenteringcommerceinfishmarketsorelsewhere,andevaluate
whetherthereissufficientevidencetowarrantchangestotheclosureboundary.

AdditionalBaselineSampling:Inorderforthesurveillancesamplingtobeeffective,NOAAneedsan
adequatecomparisonbaselineastotheconditionsofoilcontaminantsinthewaterandfisherypriortothe
Gulfspill.NOAAhasanunderstandingoftheprespillbaselineconditionsfromasignificantposthurricane
KatrinaandRitasamplingeffortaswellasrecentlycollectedsamplestakeninFederalwatersoffLouisiana,
Mississippi,andAlabama.Theoilcontinuestospreadandmove.Forthisreason,morebaselinesampling
conductedbyNOAAandEPAwillenabletheagenciestodevelopanevenmorerobustunderstandingofthe
preexposurelevels,particularlyinareasoffFloridaandTexas.Therefore,NOAAandEPAwillcontinueto
gatherbaselinesamplesinoilfreeGulfwatersinadvanceofanyimpactfromtheDWHspill.

Statesalsoneedanadequatecomparisonbaselineastothepresenceofoilcontaminantsinthewaterand
fisherypriortotheGulfspill.FDAhasagreedtoanalyzebaselinesamplespreviouslycollectedbythestates.
FDAhasdevelopedanddistributedabaselinesampleproceduretoeachstate.

FDASeafoodSafetyProgram:TheFDAoperatesamandatorysafetyprogramforallfishandfisheryproducts
undertheprovisionsoftheFederalFood,DrugandCosmeticAct,thePublicHealthServiceAct,andrelated
regulations.TheFDAsseafoodHazardAnalysisandCriticalControlPoint(HACCP)regulationrequires
processorstoidentifyandcontrolhazardswhicharereasonablylikelytooccur.FDAisissuingaletter
remindingfishandfisheryproductprocessorsofFDA'sregulationsandpolicyconcerningthefoodsafety
hazardofenvironmentalchemicalcontaminants,includingtheimportanceofverifyingthatfishtheyare
processinghavenotcomefromclosedwaters.Inaddition,FDAisincreasinginspectionsofGulfCoast
seafoodprocessorstoensurecompliancewiththisregulation.

FDAMarketSurveillance:FDAisimplementingariskbasedsurveillancesamplingprogramtargetingseafood
productsatGulfCoastseafoodprocessors.Theagencywillbetargetingoysters,crabs,andshrimp,which
couldretaincontaminantslongerthanfinfish.Thissamplingwillprovideverificationthatseafoodonthe
marketissafetoeat.FDAssamplingactivitiesaredesignedtocomplementthedocksidemonitoringof
finfishalreadyplannedbyNOAAanddescribedabove.

MinimizingEconomicHarmfromtheOilSpillTheNOAA/FDAReopeningProtocol:NOAAandFDA
recognizethattheeffectsoftheoilspillcontinuetogrowastheoilcontinuestoflow.However,as
remediationeffortscontinue,itmaybepossibletoalleviatesomeoftheeconomicharmcausedbytheoil
spillbyreopeningpreviouslyclosedareas.NOAAwillreopentheseareasonlyifitisassured,basedon
testingofseafoodfromtheareaandconsultationwithFDA,thatfishproductswithintheclosedareameet
FDAstandardsforpublichealthandwholesomeness.Tothatend,NOAAandFDAarecontinuingtorefinea
reopeningprotocolbasedonbothchemicalandsensoryanalysisofseafoodwithintheclosedarea.