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State officials are reassuring Floridians that seafood caught off the coast of Florida is safe, and they have the lab results to prove it.

This red snapper and every other fish sold in this shop is put in plain view for customers to see. Business was brisk for a Monday lunch. Karolyn Mears came for grouper, flounder and crab.

“Everything I ever buy here has always been very good, so I feel it is safe” says Mears.

But reports from Louisiana suggest some mutated fish have been found there. Bob Jones of the Southeastern Fisheries represents Florida commercial fishermen. Jones says they aren’t surprised about fish in Louisiana but adds that’s there and this is here.

“Everyone that’s in the business knows that where you had a significant amount of oil over an extended period of time, that the critters in that area are going to be harmed” says Jones.

Every piece of fish sold by this store is triple inspected…by smelling, by seeing, and by cutting. Since august 2010, the state has tested more than thirteen hundred samples. they include clams, shrimp and all kinds of fish.

The state got ten million dollars from BP to beef up lab their facilities and conduct increased inspections. So far, State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam says no sample has exceeded safety guidelines for possible oil contamination.

“We have seen no visible impact that lingers in the shell fish samples or fin fish samples that we are pulling from the Gulf of Mexico” says Putnam, who added that he and his family eat Florida seafood at least once a week.

The state has been testing an average of two samples a day since the fall of 2010. The funding for increased testing will last for another two years.