NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Wildlife scientists think shrimp can survive the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Martin Bourgeois of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says brown shrimp spawn offshore in January, February and March. Once the eggs hatch, the larva count on prevailing winds and currents to carry them to the Louisiana marsh, where they grow until it's time for them to swim back offshore to spawn.
May is the peak fishing season for brown shrimp. White shrimp season begins in August and continues until December. Bourgeois said Tuesday that white shrimp, spawn closer to shore, but otherwise the one-year life cycle is mostly the same.
The department says about 30 percent of Louisiana's Gulf waters are closed to shrimping.
Since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, eventually collapsing into the Gulf of Mexico, an estimated 20 million to 40 million gallons of oil has spewed, eclipsing the 11 million that leaked from the Exxon Valdez disaster. BP PLC leased the rig from owner Transocean Ltd.
