Pascagoula, MS – The federal government says a top fisheries science expert will lead a program to test and report risks to fish and shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and cleanup.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration says Nancy Thompson was flying Wednesday to the agency's Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Pascagoula, Miss.
Thompson is director of NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
NOAA fisheries official Eric Schwaab says Thompson's work will allow the Southeast laboratory's director, Bonnie Ponwith, to focus on other oil spill duties and on regional fisheries management.
NOAA is analyzing water, fish and shellfish from Louisiana to Florida.
NOAA will use the information to decide where and how to stop fishing and whether seafood is safe to eat.
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