By Eileen Fleming
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-949789.mp3
New Orleans, La. – Forty-two hundred-square-miles of federal waters are open again off the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coast. The fishing grounds had reopened earlier, but were closed in November after tar balls were discovered in commercial nets. Fishing crews were harvesting royal red shrimps from waters deeper than 600 feet. Testing didn't determine if the tar balls came from the BP spill. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says recent testing found no traces of oil or the chemical dispersants used to break it up.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming.