University scientists have spotted the first indications oil is entering the Gulf seafood chain –  in crab larvae — and one expert warns the effect on fisheries could last “years, probably not a matter of months.”

Scientists with the University of Southern Mississippi and Tulane University in New Orleans have found droplets of oil in the larvae of blue and fiddler crabs sampled from Louisiana to Pensacola, Fla. The news comes as blobs of oil and tar continue to wash ashore in Mississippi in patches, with crews cleaning beaches all along the coast, and as state and federal fisheries from Louisiana to Florida are closed by the BP oil disaster. Get the full story »