Gulf Coast Fishing, Tourism Industries Imperiled by Oil Spill

Gulf Coast Fishing, Tourism Industries Imperiled by Oil Spill: "April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Billions of dollars generated by outdoor sports, commercial fishing and beach tourism along the Gulf of Mexico coast is at risk if crude oil leaking from a damaged offshore well washes aground.

The oil spill off Louisiana's coast from a well owned by BP Plc may threaten wildlife, and seafood production in a state known as 'Sportsman's Paradise,' as well as in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida or Texas, said Robert Shipp, chairman of the department of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama.

'If this thing really gets to the coast, to those sugar- white beaches from Gulf Shores, Alabama to Panama City, Florida, that would be just a horrible disaster,' Shipp said in an interview."