A sad note from a shrimper

[Sabriel]

The Galveston seafood company that drives trucks up to and throughout the Midwest sent this email:

"LAST SALE UNTIL SPRING STOCK UP NOW.
To freeze shrimp for the Winter , please cover in water to prevent
freezer burn & maintain flavor.

We will try to return in 3 weeks if your weather is decent & our
supply of shrimp continues.
Texas waters are SAFE. No contamination from Katrina or Rita near us."

How sad that they have to say that up front. I admit I'm still a little squeamish about eating shrimp. Any Texans here have an opinion about eating seafood from the Gulf?

[texastoast]

1. We have mercury problems

Due to industry that is here, hurricane or no. Shrimp do not keep as much mercury as oysters, which really collect it. However, it wasn't too long ago (I would have to look it up) that one of the big national health organizations told pregnant women not to eat Gulf seafood--any of it. So sad. So foolish.

[Horse with no Name]

2. I wouldn't

You couldn't convince me that the contamination hasn't affected the entire Gulf.
Just because you shit at one end of the bathtub doesn't mean the other end is clean. Just saying...

[texastoast]

4. I just wish it were

confined to the bathtub. I worked with someone who said, "You can't shit in your own messkit and expect to stay healthy." I see the whole planet as our messkit when we are talking 6 billion people.

[babylonsister]

3. I bought 3 pounds of big shrimp last week, it was

delicious, and I'll do it again. If I equate Katrina to shrimp, I'm doomed. There are tides, currents, lots of things happening.
Whoever doesn't eat shrimp probably didn't eat it in the first place.

[texastoast]

5. I'm not quitting

Gotta die of something. For me, it won't be from not eating enough shrimp.

[ellisonz]

8. I'm with on you on that.

Not to mention what'll happen to hurricane affected businesses if people stop buying, job losses for all.

[Horse with no Name]

7. Well ya got me there

but then again, I got food poisoning from shrimp, so my reluctance was there to start with.
However, I don't believe the Gulf is clean. I wouldn't set foot in it to swim and I certainly wouldn't eat anything that came out of it, at least not this short term.:shrug:

[CountAllVotes]

6. safe my ass

It is all contaminated. It was contaminated before Katrina/Rita - now about 100X worse.

I love shrimp but sadly I'll have to stop eating those prawns I used to eat.

Anytime someone says it is SAFE nowadays, that makes it only that much more suspect to me.

[kenny blankenship]

9. Oh...i thought it was some more bs from Dick Morris

never mind. Anyways, I don't care much for cockroaches from the sea, which is what shrimp are.

[babylonsister]

10. Where do you hail from?

If you grew up by the sea, you'd appreciate the finer things in life. :)

[Rowdyboy]

11. A life without shrimp, crab, oysters and scallops is not worth living....

I buy from a long-time, reputable seafood dealer with excellent connections throughout the southeast. He has consistently provided quality product and as long as he keeps it up, I'll keep buying.

[babylonsister]

13. Heck, I live in TX and grew up in NY. I miss clams!

My husband, an New Englander, misses soft-shell clams. The market for this stuff is getting smaller, prices are rising.
Living in TX, eat 'em (shrimp) while you can!

[gulfcoastliberal]

12. Here in Pensacola they're buying oysters from the atlantic, grouper season

is over and the only shrimp I eat or those caught in the Gulf - our bays are horribly polluted. I miss the Mississippi shrimp. They were the best.

[Davis_X_Machina]

14. Mid-winter is the season for Maine shrimp (Pandalus Borealus).

Smaller than Gulf shrimp, sweet and delicious raw.

[Dark]

15. YAAAAAAY! Crucify those heretical Crustaceans!

www.Godhatesshrimp.com