Gulf oil spill worries college administrator

A school official from St. John's visiting the Gulf of Mexico area said Monday the parallels between the fishery and the oil industries there, and in Newfoundland and Labrador, should raise concerns.

"The similarities, I guess, are a little bit eerie in many ways. A lot of the people here depend upon the fishery as they do at home  — and there's a booming offshore oil industry, as well, as there is at home," said John Oates, who recently visited fishermen in Venice, Louisiana.

"So, I guess we're looking at the possibilities or the similarities in the [oil spill] situation if anything similar was to happen at home."

Oates, an administrator with the College of the North Atlantic, is in New Orleans with a group of students from St. John's helping residents rebuild from 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

Oates said many fishermen in Louisiana are anxious to get out to the spill and do what they can to stop it from reaching the shore.

He said they fear the spilled oil may end their way of life by destroying fish stocks.