Economic ipact of Gulf of Mexico oil spill varies.doc

Economic impact of Gulf of Mexico oil spill varies by industry By Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune on May 09, 2010 at 7:00 AM, updated May 09, 2010 at 9:45 AM Email | Print 窗体顶端 Eliot Kamenitz/The Times-PicayuneTheophile Bourgeois fishing charter business is down because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But businesses in the area have seen a pickup in activity because of the accident. Lodging facilities in Buras are booked solid with cleanup crews and out-of-state media. 窗体底端 Theophile Bourgeois website usually gets about 15,000 hits per month. It failed to hit that number, however, in April and likely wont in May because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In reality, this time of year I should be booking 10 trips a day, said Bourgeois, who owns Bourgeois Fishing Charters. Thats decreased about 20 percent. As bookings have declined, cancellations have risen. Where it should be peaking, its declining, Bourgeois said. I just had a group of 16 guys call and say they were down to six because they didnt want to deal with the oil. Bourgeois, who operates ten charter boats and two fishing lodges, is one of an as-yet unknown number of individuals and business owners who are impacted by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly three weeks ago, the oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank, leaving a drilling site that has spewed oil ever since. BP is working to control the leaks. It will be a while before the spills full economic impact is known and, in fact, the spill is having different effects on different industries. In Buras, lodging facilities booked solid with cleanup crews are scrambling to hire additional maids, and the proprietor of a sportsmans lodge said he had to borrow campers to house an unexpected crush of patrons. But theres no denying the impact on the seafood and fishing industries, mainstays of the south Louisiana economy, where operators like Bourgeois have seen a dramatic falloff in work. Its very difficult, said Dek Terrell, director of the