It’s been 16 days since fresh oil has spilled from the Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico. Skimmers are having a hard time finding collectible oil and commercial and recreational fishing has reopened in parts of Louisiana.

That should be good news for fisherman in Louisiana, but at present, they’re struggling. We’re live today from Pontchartrain Blue Crab in Slidell, Louisiana. This facility buys crab and shrimp right off the boat from fisherman. The owner of Pontchartrain Blue Crab is Gary Bauer.

He says on a good day, they would normally buy shrimp and crabs from 20 boats. Today, they might have five. Shrimp and crab prices are both depressed. Bauer says he’s getting it from all sides — scrambling to find enough product to sell and then when he sells it, it’s for a pittance.

There’s just not enough demand for Louisiana seafood. Even though tests have shown that Gulf seafood is safe — there’s a perception that say it’s not.

Some commercial fishing areas in Louisiana reopened last Friday. Captain Mike Russell is one of the first boats to bring in a big catch after fishing all weekend. He was one of the few boats out there — many fisherman would rather work for a steady check from the BP vessels of opportunity program than attempt to wade back into the hit or miss fishing industry. Russell says he got lucky.

His crew hauled in a total of about 6,500 pounds of shrimp. He’ll need it since the price he says he’s getting is only $1.30 a pound. Compare that to around $2 a pound a couple months ago. With the costs of diesel, employees, boat repair — he says he can break even but not thrive.

Gary Bauer says he’s decided to keep Pontchartrain Blue Crab. He wants to keep his employees going. But he’s frustrated — he wants the rest of the commercial fishing areas in Louisiana back open.

So does Governor Bobby Jindal who had a press conference today to highlight the issue. Jindal wants BP to find a long term seafood testing program, so that consumers can be assured Louisiana seafood is safe.

As for Bauer, he says he understands the scrutiny, but wonders if the Food and Drug Administration is keeping as close an eye on imported seafood.

Just two weeks ago, there was a huge pipeline explosion near one Chinese coast.