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The Gulf oil leak has been permanently capped, but it continues to wreak havoc on Florida’s seafood industry. Concerns about safety abound, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, scientists have found no reason for the concerns.

Scott Avery was sitting down for a lunch of shrimp and scallops with no concerns about contamination.

“I’ve never, ever gotten sick off of seafood,” Avery said.

Sheldon McElvy was across the room, eating one raw oyster after another.

“The said that the oysters come from Apalachicola, and I hadn’t heard anything bad about them,” McElvy said.

Scientists back up their confidence.

Samples of Fin fish, oysters, shrimp, and muscles are put through rigorous testing for hydrocarbons at this state lab.

“We’re collecting in this area, from the Apalachicola Bay over to Pensacola,” Lab supervisor Jo Marie Cook said.

“That’s what we’re analyzing, for the oil,” state scientist Walter Hammack said.

Reporter: My understanding is that you’ve found none of that so far?”

“We have not found any significant levels,” Hammack said.

Right now this lab is running about 20 samples a week and has plans to keep running those samples until all danger has passed.

Still, fear lingers, cutting wholesale orders by as much as 30 percent. Which is why the state is running this TV spot across North Florida.

Southeast Fisheries Director Bob Jones says it is a matter of regaining brand confidence.

“The perception, on the part of the consuming public, is that a lot of the gulf seafood has oil on it and they’re staying away from it,” Jones said.