Shrimpers, oystermen and crabbers already fear that the oil spill that has shut down fishing in a vast slice of the Gulf of Mexico may be a second Hurricane Katrina. But it has yet to seriously affect the nation’s dinner table, according to restaurateurs and suppliers.
If the spill cannot be tamed quickly, though, there will be an inevitable decrease in the availability and an increase in the cost of shrimp, oysters, blue crabs and a host of other seafood, they say.
“There is no immediate effect here right now,” said Joe Gurrera, owner of the Citarella stores and wholesale distribution operation. “At this moment in time, you wouldn’t notice any difference.”
Louis Rozzo, owner of F. Rozzo and Sons in Manhattan, one of New York’s largest distributors, who buys a large amount of red snapper and crabmeat from the Gulf, said he didn’t know how long that would last.
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