Sean Randall is a frequent visitor to Zimmer’s, a popular New Orleans seafood market. In the weeks since a BP-operated oil–drilling platform exploded and began spilling massive quantities of oil into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, Randall said she has been buying seafood 2 pounds at a time. She believed there’s not much time left before all the local seafood will be contaminated and she won’t be able to make any purchases.

“I just don’t know what New Orleans will be without seafood,” she said.

Surprisingly, despite bans on fishing off the coast and well-publicized closing of some of the state’s oyster beds, many businesses and local restaurants that specialize in seafood said they have yet to feel the effects of the oil spill.

Ti Martin, co-proprietor of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans’ Garden District, said the restaurant’s prices have not yet been affected. As far as access to shrimp, crab, and oysters, there’s plenty.

If a shortage should come, Martin says she’s prepared to roll with any changes. “There’s an old Cajun saying,” she said “Whatever crawls across the yard, we’ll cook it.”

Martin said she is not fearful of the oyster beds closing, although she said she is concerned that customer’s perception of the spill will slow traffic to Commander’s Palace.

But Charlene Zimmer, owner of Zimmer’s, said that a 15 percent increase in cost has already caused her to worry about the future of her establishment. If the situation worsens, it could bring increasing costs for seafood distributers like herself and a rise in distribution could potentially trickle down to restaurant owners and into the laps of their dining guests. Zimmer said the changes in price for fresh shrimp and oysters have caused her to rethink her already set price tags.

The seafood industry is Louisiana’s largest private-sector employer, according to the Louisiana Restaurant Association. Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry produces 25 percent of all the seafood in America and contributes $ 4.8 billion annually to the state’s economy, the association said.

Oyster lover Lamar Ellis is worried about the safety of the oyster beds and disagrees with the way BP is handling the spill. “I have a lot to be concerned about,” said Ellis, who said he eats oysters weekly.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospital said it is conducting hydrocarbon testing to monitor the presence of oil in local oyster meat. This, along with the continued testing of the 8 million acres of shoreline, will determine the safety of the oyster beds.

Oil contains harmful chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that can cause harm if ingested in large quantities, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency based in Atlanta. BP’s method of breaking up the slick with the use of toxic dispersants also raised questions about the long-term effects the chemicals will have on the quality of the seafood. The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered BP to restock with a dispersant that meets a lower toxicity level, though BP Is arguing that its current dispersant is the most effective. Cleanup from the spill is expected to last years and even decades, said the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

“It’s unacceptable knowing that we’re the No. 1 producer of offshore oil and that we’re not prepared for this,” said Sal Sunseri, co owner of PJ’s Oysters Co., which says it is the largest distributor of oysters in the U.S. “We’re not about to allow this black tide to overcome our livelihood. We’re a resilient people and are determined for the government to clean up this mess.”

Founded in 1876, PJ’s family-run business is in the French Quarter. Sunseri said he distributes oysters to over 100 companies and that the spill has caused a nominal increase in cost. His biggest concern is the government’s lack of control over the situation.

“It’s not just the fisheries that will suffer,” he said. “Our entire economy would be devastated if the worst scenario were to come into reality.”

Sunseri said he hopes that the leak will be capped soon because he’s made an investment in preparing for the first-ever oyster festival in New Orleans, scheduled for June 5 and 6 in the parking lot next to the old Jackson Brewery, at the edge of the French Quarter. Eighteen of the city’s top restaurants will attend, each bringing a different oyster dish. The crowd can anticipate plenty of New Orleans jazz and over 50,000 pounds of oysters, Sunseri said. First planned for 2006, the festival had to be canceled because of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

But Sunseri said this new disaster won’t change his oyster shucking plans. If Gulf beds can’t provide the oysters he needs, he said, he’s prepared to cross the border to Texas.

“Were celebrating the oyster farmers and chefs that have created the oyster capital of America,” Sunseri said. “Nothing is going to stop this festival.”

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