NOAA: Most of gulf open for fishing

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 26 (UPI) -- Despite a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 75 percent of federal waters are available for commercial fishing, a U.S. agency said.

Oil from the April sinking of the Deepwater Horizon platform off the coast of Louisiana has reached sensitive marshlands on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that it extended closed fishing areas in the gulf to include areas with reported oil contamination. NOAA said slightly more than 22 percent -- 54,096 square miles -- of the U.S. waters of the gulf is closed.

"This leaves more than 77 percent of gulf federal waters still available for fishing," the agency said.

NOAA said closed fishing in the U.S. southern waters was a precautionary measure to ensure fish caught in the gulf are safe for consumers.

The agency said it would work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test and monitor seafood safety and keep oil-contaminated harvests out of the market place.

NOAA said commercial fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico netted more than 1 billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2008.