Since the BP oil spill in 2010, we have seen a great change in the seafood trade industry in the Gulf Coast. Not only have the lives of fisherman changed dramatically, but it has also affected the overall importation of seafood for the entire United States. Fishermen are experiencing a loss of ocean life in the area surrounding the oil spill and thus, many are losing business, and many are even losing their jobs. This means that we have to import our seafood from other countries since we can no longer rely on the wealth of the seafood industry in the Gulf Coast. It is a tragedy that has reached many people. According to an article from BBC, one company tells the tale of losing their business after 90 years in the seafood industry. In the chart below we can see that total imports in February 2011 have increased 22% over last year.

In the past few months the value of imports has started to even off a little bit more. We saw the highest value of imports in December 2010 in the past year with an import value of $207,836,290, and now in February 2011 it is only $189,346,101. With the clean up in progress we will hopefully see a turnaround in the coming months.