Atlanta Fish Restaurants Paying More for Gulf Seafood

By Jeanne Bonner

The menu at the Big Easy Grille on Collier Road in Atlanta is pretty straightforward. Shrimp, oysters and crab legs, all from Louisiana.

So how has the Gulf oil spill affected the restaurant's supply? Here's co-owner Tim Lannon.

"Shrimp prices have gone up, oyster prices have gone up, crab leg - everything has gone up," he said.

For a restaurant whose whole focus is Gulf seafood, Lannon says these are tough times.

"We're just sucking it up," he said. "We're making less money. It's hard to justify raising prices in this economic environment."

The Georgia Restaurant Association says while Gulf shrimp can cost up to 40 percent more now, the state's restaurant owners are paying more for shrimp no matter where they come from. That's because demand has risen just about everywhere, says Kelly Hornbuckle, the association's spokeswoman.

"There's a tight global market for shrimp," Hornbuckle said, "so the spill has raised prices in an already tight global market for shrimp."

Part of the problem is the catch. According to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, the shrimp harvest has been off two thirds from last year since the spill.