The oil industry isn't the only business that has been hit hard by the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Both the tourism and the seafood industries have been feeling the pinch, and much of it comes from a misperception that the spill has covered and infected the entire Gulf region.

People from all over the nation have been wondering if the seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat.

"I mean you're worried about, well is this meat contaminated or what?" seafood fan Linda Judge-Perterson said. "I think it's going to really affect people."

Such fears have left those living in the Gulf region feeling frustrated - especially those who work in the seafood industry.

Eighty-thousand square miles have been closed to commercial fishermen. Much of the Gulf is still untouched by the spill and its seafood is still considered safe to eat.

"I don't fear it myself," seafood processor Dominick Ficarino said. "I would go home and eat it tomorrow. If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't process and catch it during this time."

But recently, at Vinnie's Raw Bar in Lake Norman, N.C. restaurant, oily oysters turned up on a customer's plate.

"They looked fine, just regular. But then as the soon as they opened, they got on my hands - the black stuff. It was just a little bit on the meat," customer Matthew Robertson recalled.

"We don't know if the things we're eating are being cleaned properly or if they're being infected, and that can affect our health," said one nervous consumer.

However, those whose jobs have been threatened by the oil crisis are asking seafood fans to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"We're going to stay on top of it as well as our state and local agencies," Ficarino said. "I would ask them to support us at this time."

Meanwhile, President Obama has made it a point to dine on Gulf seafood in his recent trips to the region. He has tried to demonstrate that much of the sea life remains uncontaminated by the oil spill.