Gulf Harvesters Offered More Money for BP Damage

Gulf of Mexico shrimpers and crabbers, who’ve reported diminished catches since the BP oil spill, are being offered a more generous settlement package due to lingering uncertainties over seafood.

On Tuesday, Kenneth Feinberg, who is overseeing payments from a $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the 2010 oil spill, said he would offer shrimpers and crabbers four times their documented losses in 2010 to settle their claims against BP.

On its website, the Feinberg-directed Gulf Coast Claims Facility said it recognized “the ongoing uncertainty regarding the state of the commercial harvesting of shrimp and crabs in the Gulf and the uncertainty of any ongoing impact from the spill.”

But the heftier offer is unlikely to assuage many shrimpers and crab harvesters who say the claims process has been unfair.