One day prior to the anniversary of the deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent massive oil spill, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reopened the last section of Gulf waters to commercial and recreational fishing. At one point, 88,522 square miles — 37 percent of Federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico — were closed to fishing because of the disaster.
Deep, warm water; oil eating microbes; dispersion; containment and mystery are all accredited with the oil cleanup in and around the Gulf. No one is quite sure where or how the oil disappeared, but NOAA’s exhaustive studies of the quality of seafood from the Gulf region show no signs of oil or chemical dispersant. NOAA has been running chemical tests as well as taste and sensory tests on Gulf seafood, and all of it has passed with a clean bill of health.
Sounds good to me, because with the warming spring air, I’ve got the Gulf and its tasty inhabitants on my mind. It just so happened that I was fishing the Alabama Gulf Coast just days after the Deepwater explosion. The fishing was amazing and the seafood was fantastic. Check out this video to see the hot action we encountered in the Gulf and at the local restaurants. And once you're done, check out the cooking videos below to see what we did when we weren't on the water.
Cooking Videos
If you’re interested in heading to the Alabama Gulf Coast this spring and summer, visit www.orangebeach.com for all the up-to-date information on fishing and attractions. The water is as emerald green as it ever was and the lack of fishing pressure this past summer has created a bounty of hard-fighting and great-tasting saltwater fish.
Ready to plan your trip? Check out a few of our favorite charter fishing companies:
Cool Change
Capt. Joe Nash
(251) 974-5615
Necessity
Capt. Ben Fairey
(251) 747-5782
