Survey Measures Post-Spill Seafood Attitudes

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A marketing survey commissioned by Louisiana's seafood promotion board shows that more than 70 percent of consumers polled nationally express some level of concern about Gulf of Mexico seafood safety following last spring's BP oil spill, and 23 percent have actually reduced their consumption.

The figures are the result of online canvassing of a thousand households in December — the first of three "waves" of such research that will help the promotion board craft a public relations message.

BP last year agreed to provide the state with $30 million over three years to fund the marketing effort, money the promotion board hopes to begin using soon, after the state Attorney General's Office provides some legal for its use.