The spill: Six worst-case scenarios

2. A seafood shortage
One-fifth of U.S. commercial seafood comes from the Gulf — including 75 percent of our shrimp. George Crozier, executive director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, says that the crude oil entering coastal estuaries areas may cause a dramatic drop in “seafood recruitment” (as he calls it) for years to come. Louisiana commercial shrimpers have filed a class action suit against BP and its partners. This is already “the worst case scenario for shrimpers, oyster harvesters, crabbers — all the commercial fisherman,” says a local expert.

3. Higher gas prices
The 210,000 gallons of oil leaking into the Gulf each day is is a fraction of total U.S. oil consumption. But, if it takes BP weeks to stem the gushing, as seems likely, the spill “may be the final catalyst to push U.S. gasoline prices…solidly above $3 a gallon,” says Charley Blaine at MSN Money.