This morning Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam testified before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in Pensacola, as the event was hosted by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Mary Landrieu. Putnam addressed the economic and ecological recovery status and the effects the oil spill has had on the seafood and aquaculture industries. After his testimony Senator Rubio asked Commissioner Putnam to give his thoughts on a couple of issues concerning funds coming from BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
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Pensacola, FL – Commissioner Putnam testified today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in a field hearing hosted by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Mary Landrieu. During the hearing in Pensacola, Commissioner Putnam addressed the economic and ecological recovery status of the Gulf of Mexico a year after the oil spill.
During his testimony, Commissioner Putnam pointed out the extensive testing conducted by the Department, as well as the “Florida Gulf Safe” marketing campaign currently in place to restore consumer confidence in Florida’s seafood and aquaculture industries.
“Since August 2010, my Department has collected nearly 300 seafood samples,” said Commissioner Putnam. “Nearly all of the samples tested contained no detectable levels of oil contaminants. Of the 300 seafood samples tested, less than 13 percent were found to have any traces of possible oil contaminants whatsoever. All findings of traces were less than 1/1000th of the FDA’s levels of concern. Our testing shows that Florida seafood is safe to eat and has not been impacted by the oil spill.”
However, despite the proven safety of Florida’s Gulf seafood, Commissioner Putnam noted that the public remains wary.
“As recently as June of this year, consumers were still balking at Florida seafood,” said Commissioner Putnam. “While we witnessed slight improvement in some markets following additional media outreach, March polling still indicated little movement, and as we approached the anniversary of the oil spill, file footage of oily beaches – nowhere near Florida – once again rattled consumer confidence.”
While both the testing and marketing arm of the Department has been greatly aided through a $20 million settlement with BP, Commissioner Putnam stressed that there is still much left to be done.
“It will be costly, yet necessary, for the state to continue to monitor the Gulf ecosystem to evaluate and address the long-term impacts of the spill,” said Commissioner Putnam. “Further, it is obvious by talking to individuals and businesses that have been affected by this disaster that much is left to be done to help them fully recover from the economic hardships they have been faced with. I believe we must accept the fact that the effects of this spill will not be fully understood for some time to come and that we must remain committed to making Florida and the other Gulf states – our people and our environment ‘whole’.”
A full copy of Commissioner Putnam’s testimony can be found here.
For more information about the Department’s testing and marketing efforts, visit its new “My Florida Gulf Safe” website, www.MyFloridaGulfSafe.com.
For more information about the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit www.FreshFromFlorida.com or follow Commissioner Putnam on Facebook, or Twitter, @adamputnam.