Federal officials closed a significant portion of commercial and recreational fishing grounds along Florida's Panhandle at 6 p.m. Wednesday, a day after thousands of tar balls were discovered bobbing offshore.

In response Gov. Charlie Crist sent a letter to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, asking that Florida's commercial fishing industry be declared a disaster. The designation would make Florida fishermen eligible for federal aid.

"Our commercial harvesters are already having trouble selling product because of the unfounded fear that seafood from the gulf is contaminated," Crist wrote. "Clearly, our commercial fishing industry is suffering a failure from the Deepwater Horizon spill."

Still, fishing is good in the state's closer-in territorial waters — up to 9 miles off Florida's west coast -- according to Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"The best thing people can do is go fishing in Florida, Wiley said. "But we also want to take care of our fisherman at the same time."

The closure comes just days before a Free Fishing Weekend, part of a massive marketing campaign fueled with $25 million from BP, to draw tourists to Florida's oil free beaches.

Free Fishing Weekend allows residents and nonresidents to fish for saltwater species in Florida waters without a license. The first Free Fishing Weekend was on Memorial Day weekend and the next begins on this Saturday -- the first weekend after the opening of Florida's red snapper season on June 1.

At a hastily called press conference Wednesday morning, Crist confirmed tar balls were discovered off shore and were being skimmed from the surface.

As for the marketing campaign, Crist said the campaign would be reviewed and revised if necessary.

"Obviously we need to have to have truth in advertising," Crist said. "We need to discuss where it is, more importantly where it is not."

At the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the decision to close federal waters to is made after reviewing data from satellite imagery, airplane passes and other reports. "It's a combination of where it is and where it might go," said Roy Crabtree, NOAA's southeast regional director in St. Petersburg.

But as soon as an area is closed to fishing, people assume oil has reached the area and that the seafood is contaminated, said Jerry Sansom, executive director of the Organized Fishermen of Florida.

"So much of this is projection of where the oil might go," Sansom said. "But no fishing grounds have been closed in Florida because of the presence of oil. The bottom line is that seafood harvested from Florida is safe to eat."

Unlike NOAA, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will not close an area to fishing until oil is present. Even then, the smallest area possible will be closed, said Lee Schlesinger, spokesman for the Commission.

"There is no hard and fast rule," Schlesinger said. "If we see oil in state waters we will strongly consider closing it."

Scientists say the surface slick appears headed northeastward, toward Florida's Panhandle.

Where the underwater plume will go remains unknown. However, test results expected by the end of the week should confirm the presence of an underwater plume, said Dr. Robert Robert H. Weisberg, director of the Ocean Circulation Group at the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science.

"People are denying that any subsurface oil exists despite a lot of evidence," Weisberg said. "I'm going to let the science do the talking."

www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crist-asks-feds-to-declare-state-fishing-industry-722634.html