Here, Fishy, Fishy: The PR Push To Keep Us Hooked on Gulf Fish?

After BP's gulf shore oil spill saga, how do you convince the public Gulf fish is still good to eat? BP chief operating officer Doug Scuttles is taking his shot by telling reporters that he'd eat it - and he'd feed it to his family. Yet while FDA releases claim the seafood from spots like Louisiana and Florida is fine to eat, it may be a long road to getting the public back on the hook. And the media is now flexing its skeptical muscle...from MSNBC looking at the consumer confidence hit the spill could cause, to an AP story that the fishermen weren't convinced by "smell test" tactics the government says helps tell if seafood's safe to eat. The perception of seafood safety and consumer communcation also made it to NPR's Talk of the Nation. After the jump, an exerpt of the discussion between Tony Cox, host, and John Stein, head of the Seafood Safety Program in the Gulf, and deputy director, NOAA's Ocean and Human Health Center (in response to a caller's question about Gulf seafood): Cox: Thank you, Anthony. I suppose what he refers to, John, is this idea of whether or not we can trust what we hear. You've already answered that to a certain extent. But are you finding that on your part and on NOAA's part, that perhaps some additional outreach or PR, for lack of a better word, will be necessary to convince folks, like the gentleman that we just heard, that what we're telling you is really true? Dr. Stein: I think that both FDA and NOAA have recognized that getting the information out, communicating that in a consistent and continual way is very important, because for people to understand that we have this program in place -yes, it's been a big event and people are concerned, but we need to continually communicate the actions that the U.S. government is taking to make sure that seafood that the public consumes is wholesome and safe. And we're dedicated to that, and you can only - you always can do more. And we're working on that on a continual basis to get that information out.

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Here, Fishy, Fishy: The PR Push To Keep Us Hooked on Gulf Fish?

Clyde

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