By LouisianaTravel.com Staff - Monday, May 24, 2010 - 4 p.m - 

The Louisiana Office of Tourism, along with other state and federal government agencies and private sector entities, continue to work together to monitor the impact of the oil spill and cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.

Much of the Louisiana Gulf Coast is unaffected by the oil spill and remains open for commercial and recreational fishing. All nine Louisiana coastal parishes (counties) continue to offer travelers historic and cultural attractions, world-acclaimed indigenous food and music, and notable restaurants and overnight accommodations.

The primary affected area is around the mouth of the Mississippi River in the southeast region of Louisiana. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast maps identify an "area of uncertainty" that extends around the origin of the spill.

Affected coastal areas, as well as areas of uncertainty, have been closed to fishing by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in portions of Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Terrebonne parishes. Officials on Grand Isle have closed its public beach.

Coastal areas of Iberia and Vermilion parishes that were temporarily closed as a precaution reopened today to commercial and recreational fishing.

Louisiana crawfish are a freshwater shellfish species and all commercial crawfish ponds and natural habitat are inland and away from threatened areas.

Few affected areas are near inhabited areas. New Orleans is approximately 100 miles inland from affected areas and foresees no disruption in guest service or any negative impacts on visitors.

Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals, the Department of Environmental Quality and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are overseeing all efforts to monitor the possible effects the spill may have on inland areas.

Official information is being posted by the response team (U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Homeland Security, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of the Interior, BP and Transocean) and updated several times each day at http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com and http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/ .