it looks like a scene straight out of a crime scene show. what you re looking at is a chain of custody record because the fish being tested are literally treated like evidence. you got keep track of where it s been and who s handled it. this is the testing facility. these are fish over here that are being tested, trying to figure out if indeed they are safe. aluminum foil, special instruments, workers wearing gloves. they want to be very careful not to contaminate and make sure their records and the testing is as accurate as possible. thousands of fish tested since april 28th. just a week after the oil spill. brought leer in huge ice units. we re here in mississippi. got a lot of fish behind us here. yes. bagged and tagged. yes they are. important. part of the process. reporter: dr. john stein is head of noaa seafood testing program. you go around the country and talk about what s happening in the gulf. the question always comes up. is the seafood safe? yes. reporter: and you
instruments, workers wearing gloves. they want to be careful not to contaminate the fish to make sure the records and evidence is clear as possible. thousands being tested a week after the oil spill. they re being brought here in these ice units. here in mississippi, a lot of fish. bagged and tagged. this is part of the process. dr. john stein, head of noa a s seafood safety testing program. go around the country and talk to people about what s happening in the gulf, the question that comes out, is the seafood safe, you say? yes, we have an extensive program in place, it s a cooperative program between noaa, the epa and the gulf states. we re all working together to ensure that the seafood is safe. but no one can be sure. that s because we don t know exactly how much oil is leaking. more importantly, exactly where it s going. we ve been talking to a lot
these are tests over here being tested trying to figure out if they re safe. aluminum foil, special instruments, workers wearing gloves. they want to be careful not to contaminate the fish to make sure the records and evidence is clear as possible. thousands being tested a week after the oil spill. they re being brought here in these ice units. here in mississippi, a lot of fish. bagged and tagged. this is part of the process. dr. john stein, head of noa a s seafood safety testing program. go around the country and talk to people about what s happening in the gulf, the question that comes out, is the seafood safe, you say? yes, we have an extensive program in place, it s a cooperative program between noaa, the epa and the gulf states. we re all working together to ensure that the seafood is safe. but no one can be sure. that s because we don t know exactly how much oil is leaking.
we re here in mississippi. got a lot of fish behind us here. yes. bagged and tagged. yes, they are. know where they come from. this is part of the process. dr. john stein is head of noah s seafood safety testing program. you go around the country, john, and talk to people about what s happened here in the gulf. the question always comes up, is the seafood safe. yes. and you say? yes. we have an extensive program in place between noaa, fda, epa, the gulf states and we re all working together to ensure that the seafood is safe. reporter: but no one can be sure. that s because we don t know exactly how much oil is leaking. more importantly, exactly where it is going. you ve been talking with a lot of scientists and they say the oil as it starts to break up, you get all of these various compounds that are not oil, so to speak, anymore. and they re just aromatic hydro carbons. yes. they can go overall over the place. that s what i think makes it so
you ve got to keep track of where it s been and who s handling it. this is the testing facility. these are tests over here being tested trying to figure out if they re safe. aluminum foil, special instruments, workers wearing gloves. they want to be careful not to contaminate the fish to make sure the records and evidence is clear as possible. thousands being tested a week after the oil spill. they re being brought here in these ice units. here in mississippi, a lot of fish. bagged and tagged. this is part of the process. dr. john stein, head of noa a s seafood safety testing program. go around the country and talk to people about what s happening in the gulf, the question that comes out, is the seafood safe, you say? yes, we have an extensive program in place, it s a cooperative program between noaa, the epa and the gulf states.