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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: US authorities Friday reopened a section of more than 16,000 square miles (41,000 sq km) of previously closed fishing area off the Florida coast.
The zone was closed on June 2 as a precaution because oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill was projected to be within the area over the next 48 hours.
"However, the review of satellite imagery, radar and aerial data indicated that oil had not moved into the area," the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.
The most significant opening is a 13,653-square mile (35,000 sq km) area just west of the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas.
The closed area now represents 78,182 square miles (200,000 sq km), which is approximately 32 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters.
NOAA and the Food and Drug Administration are also implementing a broad-scaled seafood sampling plan to ensure any seafood harvested from the Gulf is safe to eat.
According to NOAA, there are approximately 5.7 million recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico region who took 25 million fishing trips in 2008. Commercial fishermen in the Gulf harvested more than one billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2008. - AFP/jy
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