TAMPA — Local restaurants and fishermen say red tide is starting to hurt their business because people are afraid that the seafood being sold has the toxic algae.
According to the FWC most of the fish we see in local restaurants and grocery stores are safe to eat.
"We're not getting anything from here at all," Ernest Donini, the owner of Superior Seafood said. "Everything we get is from the southeast or from Texas. You're not going to see anything from the red tide zones."
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As for some of the smaller companies that do stick around this area, the FWC has advised them to fish about 100 miles offshore because the red tide isn't out that far.
"We're also checked all the time by the FDA and they go through their protocols to make sure consumers are safe," said Donini.
Officials say it's good for people to be cautious, but there's no big danger in eating the local seafood.
Local fishermen say fuel is another issue for them. They're having to pay more just to go out further to get clean fish. Some say this may end up impacting seafood prices in grocery stores.
