one of the things about the oil spill was that it came in couldn t come at a worse time in that it was springtime and larvae and fish eggs, next generation in the water column which the oil is so toxic. same thing now this spring people aren t sure what will happen. they don t know, shrimp fishery just opened up two, three days ago. there s preliminary reports of the catch not being too bad. but oil showing up in the shrimp. the number one thing that still scaring people on the gulf is the uncertainty. thank you so much, felipe cousteau for your insight on this. this is a story we are covering for another couple decades or so. thank you. help is still needed in the gulf a year after the oil spill. to find out how you can make a difference in the gulf a year after that spill, visit our impact your world page. cnn s impact your world is challenging you to pledge at least 11 volunteer hours in 2011. go on cnn.com/impact to make your pledge today.
it has been one year since that massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico triggered the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history. today there s serious concern much of the oil still remains. we con to call on bp and the coast guard to continue to clean up our shoreline. there are still over 300 miles that have some amount of oil, 40% of the louisiana coastline that have been oiled during this spill continue to be oil today. joining us now to talk more about it is cnn as special correspondent felipe cousteau. i know you were there when the disaster started or very close to when it started. you have been back several times. i m going to assume things are better now than when oil was gushing out of the bottom of the gulf. but has it been disappointing progress? or are you impressed?
the reason i said that, we all know that the fishing city and that kind of area has for years operated on a cash basis. i suspect the documentary just doesn t exist. that doesn t mean they didn t happen and doesn t mean that many, many viable businesses have not been ruined by this. a lot of people have been completely ruined are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth. many of the cambodian and vietnamese fishermen who have been here for a very long time are having great difficulty in getting their claims filed. we re starting to hear preliminary reports that there s very few shrimp out there. so this is a challenge not going anywhere. there s still a lot of suffering on the ground. felipe cousteau, thank you
we re starting to hear preliminary reports that there s very few shrimp out there. so this is a challenge not going anywhere. there s still a lot of suffering on the ground. felipe cousteau, thank you very much. we ll be right back after this break. [ jelani ] neither of my parents went to college. something that was drilled in me early on, you know, college is the place for you. it s my number one goal. students like me, who take these ap math and science classes and have these opportunities, this is where the american dream lies. when i write that book, you know, i plan to dedicate it to my school. those hopes and dreams that you have, you know, they re within reach. and i m living proof. [ thunder rumbles ]
are the wrong people getting paid? are enough people getting paid? i ll ask ken feinberg, the man who holds the pursestrings. and how bad is the damage? i ll ask our special correspondent, philippe cousteau. this is piers morgan tonight. good evening. by all accounts, this was a pretty ordinary day in the gulf, boats going out, fishermen hauling in their catch, oil rigs pumping out crude. on the surface, it almost looks the same. but when you go deeper, absolutely nothing is the same. it all changed on the day a year ago when the deepwater horizon blew up, killing 11 workers, and flooding the gulf with 205 million gallons of oil. even now, a year later, we don t know the full extent of the environmental damage. joining me now is courteney kemp and shelly anderson, widows of two workers killed in the deepwater horizon explosion. and also joining us is earnest cannon, shelly anderson s attorney. courtney and shelly, first of all, let me offer you both my deepest sympathies.