The New York Times reports that Kenneth R. Feinberg, administrator of the $20 billion fund set up by BP to compensate victims of the April 2010 Gulf oil spill, has announced a new formula to calculate final settlements for shrimp and crab fishermen.

The new formula “recognizes the ongoing uncertainty regarding the state of commercial harvesting of shrimp and crab in the gulf,” and allows shrimp and crab fishermen to collect a final settlement of four times their demonstrable losses from the 2010 disaster. Previously, they were only able to collect up to twice their 2010 losses; this adjustment comes during Louisiana’s worst white shrimp season in memory, which evidence suggests may be caused by the oil spill.

BP weighed in negatively on the change, saying that the fund “has already compensated commercial shrimpers and crabbers far in excess of the documented, spill-related losses.”

Tags: commercial fisheries, crabs, environment, GCCF, Kenneth Feinberg, long-term damage, settlement, shrimpers