Indian Exporters Expect to Ship More Seafood to UK Market After Brexit Vote  Some Indian seafood exporters say Britain's decision to leave the European Union could increase seafood shipments to the UK market. Exporters in Odisha say they no longer need to to provide validated catch certifications in order to get fish, shrimp, squid, cuttlefish and octopus shipments into the UK market, which was the case under EU law. "We suffered huge losses after EU imposed strict guidelines on exporters. EU also rejected seafood consignments from India on the pretext of hygiene. Great Britain's exit from EU is a blessing for us as we will now easily export seafood to UK," said Ajaya Kumar Dash, president of Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI). "Prior to the formation of the European Union in 1993, we used to export easily seafood, particularly shrimps, to many European countries as there was not stringent laws." A study released by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the BP oil spill cost the Gulf of Mexico's commercial sector anywhere between $95 million and $1.6 billion in damages and 740 and 9,315 jobs in 2010. The study analyzed the impacts of the spill during the same period of time that is being used to calculate claims being paid to fishermen. Louisiana's commercial fishing industry was the hardest hit compared to the four other Gulf states with the highest costs affecting the catch of shrimp, oysters, crabs and menhaden. The wide range of the loss estimates cited by the study result from two different model assumptions it used. In other news, the NPFMC finalized a change to custom processing regulations for the Bering Sea bairdi crab fishery that will provide more flexibility for opertors to process the crab. The Council exempted the region's big three processors from a 30 percent rule so that they custom process more bairdi crab this season. The Council passed a temporary exception to this 30 percent cap last season after 10 percent of the quota had nowhere to go where it could be processed legally. Meanwhile, we run several stories related to how last week's Brexit vote might impact the global fishing industry. In Canada, Newfoundland's shrimp sales could suffer because of the weakening Great British Pound, while free trade deals under CETA could be derailed. Meanwhile, Ireland says it will fight for its share of North Sea fishing quotas if the UK's exit from the bloc changes exisitng quota arrangements under the EU Common Fisheries Policy. Finally, the Maine Seaweed Festival in Casco Bay was canceled this year after the event's organizers fear the industry is growing too fast and not maintaining responsible management practices. The seaweed festival started in 2014 and doubled in attendance to about 3,000 last year. “I would like to see more regulation and accountability. We can feel good about what we are promoting and make sure we are doing right by the ocean and its resources,” said Hillary Krapf, who runs a seaweed products and education company called Moon And Tide.