(BON SECOUR, Ala.) Bon Secour shrimpers say their nets and catch were covered with oil from Gulf floor during a shrimping trip off the coast Louisiana Saturday.
Debra Nelson says her husband and two sons headed offshore, about forty miles from where BP's oil rig exploded, to waters that were recently opened in hopes of catching royal red shrimp. When they pulled up the nets after a three-hour drag, they found an unusable catch coated in oil.
Nelson says she spent much of Saturday night and Sunday morning trying to reach officials who could help. The Coast Guard, Alabama Department of Environmental Management and a BP representative met with her Sunday in Bon Secour where the boat is based. Lt. Mike Patterson with Unified Area Command in New Orleans says samples of the shrimp and oil were collected for testing. But Nelson says no one has given her clear direction yet on how and when her boat will be decontaminated.
