Snapper's serves authentic Gulf seafood. Its shrimp po' boy is famous — "dees shrimp aren't shrimps" — and it's worth the $9.95.

This year is different. There's an oil spill out of control in the Gulf of Mexico.

I'm the only customer in the restaurant.

I ordered the Seafood Platter — fried fish, shrimp, oysters and stuffed crab. The waiter asked, "Would you like that with tartar sauce, cocktail sauce or BP oil?"

He's said this joke so many times lately, he doesn't even wait for a laugh. "It will get better," he said. "It better get better or else."

They've had to raise the price of a shrimp po' boy to $10.95. There's a ban on fishing in the Mississippi Sound off the Biloxi coastline. It takes more time and money to go farther out to catch fish, and there are fewer fish to catch, so prices are up all down the line.

Fear of the BP oil spill has caught Biloxi in a stranglehold. It's choking the biggest parts of Biloxi's economy — tourism, seafood and casinos.

Biloxi is the gambling capital of the Redneck Riviera. It has the longest man-made beach in the world. The sand is snowy white. Biloxi is home to the best-tasting fried oyster sandwiches. Biloxi swears you won't find any better recreational fishing anywhere.

There's a lot of fun in Biloxi. Now hope is on hold while the BP oil spill shakes the local economy. Casino action is down, the beach is empty, restaurants are laying off waiters and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality says it's not safe to fish off the coastline.

It's anybody's guess how long Biloxi will reel from the oil spill. Sure, hurricanes — like Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2005 — shook Biloxi. But strong people rebuild from a storm. BP's oil spill may put Biloxi on the ropes for nobody knows how long.

Every morning federal and state safety officials inspect fresh fish, shrimp and oysters coming to market from nighttime fishing trips. The seafood is safe to eat. My seafood platter was terrific. Yet people, tourists and natives alike, are reluctant to buy it.

Burgers and penny slots

Burger business is booming in this beach town that calls itself the "Seafood Capital of the World."

With that unrelenting deep-water gusher, even gambling is risky business. Upscale hotels are still doing well. I couldn't get a room at the Beau Rivage or Hard Rock, but I pretty much had the run of the Treasure Bay Casino and Hotel. I played penny slot machines surrounded by women and seniors smoking cigarettes, drinking and eating, all at the same time. I didn't know they still made penny slots.

One bright afternoon, I walked along the sand from the Treasure Bay to the Beau Rivage. I'd like to think it was a few miles, but it's probably shorter. I didn't pass one person swimming, playing Frisbee, soaking up the sun or looking for buried treasure with a metal detector.

The beach was dead empty. No people. No tar balls or oil, either.

If you didn't know that a monster oil spill was looming offshore, you never would have guessed it. The only thing that looks weird was no people.

That's what is so frustrating to Biloxi business owners. Biloxi doesn't sit directly on the Gulf of Mexico. It is protected by the Mississippi Sound. There are outer islands and reefs that kept the BP oil spill at a distance, so far, for the most part. The TV news talks about families changing their Gulf vacation plans from Biloxi and heading to the other side of Florida or Disney World. There is a swimming advisory, but nobody will stop you if you want to swim or boogie board in the surf.

Deckhand vents in song

The Sailfish "Live Marine Adventure Cruise" holds 50 people, and most summers you had to board early to get a seat. The day I went — five people. Before we left dock, a deckhand unpacked his guitar and performed an angry song about the oil spill. He's not angry at BP, though.

He's had it with TV news and newspapers. He thinks the media are scaring people to death and ruining Biloxi business when there's no need for alarm. Not yet.

Something's happening in the Gulf of Mexico,

There's a big oil spill, hell, where will it go?

The media is chasing it like a big show

But the Lord in Heaven's the only one who knows.

Well it ain't nothing but a big con job,

Everybody's hoping for a big oil blob.

One said there was oil in Mississippi

Another said the governor won't get on his knees,

I ain't saying that it's a good thing.

Just tell the truth like the song that I sing.

The deckhand works for tips. Fewer tourists, less money for him. He said business is down around 70 percent aboard the Sailfish this summer.

He pulls in the shrimp net and explains the difference between Gulf shrimp and farm-raised shrimp from Asia - the shrimp you might find in your next po' boy if BP doesn't plug this leak soon.

"When you eat a shrimp, you're not only tasting the shrimp, you're tasting the water it lived in. The Gulf of Mexico is like a gumbo with all sorts of fish, plant life and algae. It's the best place for shrimp. It takes 18 months for a Gulf shrimp to grow to jumbo size and they absorb all that flavor.

"In Asia, on their shrimp farms, they have different water and it takes a shrimp only eight months to become jumbo size. I challenge anybody to sample both shrimp and say that farm-raised shrimp tastes anywhere near as good as Gulf shrimp," he said.

"That could be gone. But it's not gone yet."

ken.hoffman@chron.com