APALACHICOLA, Fla. – Shrimp, grouper, tuna and other seafood snatched from the fringes of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico are safe to eat, according to a federal agency inspecting the catch.

To date, roughly 400 samples of commonly consumed species caught mostly in open waters — and some from closed areas — have been chemically tested by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Officials say none so far has shown concerning levels of contaminants. Each sample represents multiple fish of the same species.

TEXAS CITY, Texas – More than two months after oil from BP's blown-out seafloor well first reached Louisiana, a bucket's worth of tar balls that washed onto a Texas beach means the crude has arrived in every Gulf state.

Oil is still on the move, but the fleet of skimmers tapped to clean the worst-hit areas of the Gulf of Mexico is not. A string of storms has made the water too choppy for the boats to operate for more than a week off Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, even though the gusher continues.

TEXAS CITY, Texas – More than two months after oil gushing from a blown-out well on the ocean floor first reached Louisiana, the relentless spread of crude has now washed up on every Gulf state after a bucket's worth of tar balls hit a Texas beach.

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – A supertanker adapted to scoop up oil from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico began tests on Saturday amid a report that some major investors expect the energy giant to replace its top executives.

NEW ORLEANS – Vice President Joe Biden says the federal government has reached an agreement with Gulf Coast states to set safety levels for seafood coming out of the Gulf of Mexico.

Biden visited the region Tuesday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Food and Drug Administration say the effort designed to reopen closed fishing areas as soon as possible.

Members of the presidential commission investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

_Co-chairman: Former Democratic Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham of Florida. He often has pushed for a drilling ban off the Florida coast.

_Co-chairman: William K. Reilly, Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President George H.W. Bush and during the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – William Mahan bends over a bowl of raw shrimp and inhales deeply, using his left hand to wave the scent up toward his nose. Deep breath. Exhale. Repeat. He clears his palate with a bowl of freshly cut watermelon before moving on to raw oysters. Deep breath. Exhale. Repeat.

He's one of about 40 inspectors trained recently at a federal fisheries lab in Pascagoula, Miss., to sniff out seafood tainted by oil in the Gulf of Mexico and make sure the product reaching consumers is safe to eat.

VENICE, Louisiana (Reuters) – BP Plc forged ahead with its latest effort to curb the flow of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico as the British energy giant's shares fell anew on Wednesday and the U.S. government launched criminal and civil probes into the disaster.

NEW ORLEANS – A suggestion box or publicity stunt? BP has received thousands of ideas from the public on how to stop a blown oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, but some inventors are complaining that their efforts are getting ignored.

Oil-eating bacteria, bombs and a device that resembles a giant shower curtain are among the 10,000 fixes people have proposed to counter the growing environmental threat. BP is taking a closer look at 700 of the ideas, but the oil company has yet to use any of them nearly a month after the deadly explosion that caused the leak.

WASHINGTON – Grilled by skeptical lawmakers, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday acknowledged his agency had been lax in overseeing offshore drilling activities and that may have contributed to the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.