Here is an article exploring whether or not it is
safe to swim in the Gulf of Mexico anymore. Also, much of the area has been or will be
closed to fishing, although economic and social pressures incline people to keep waters open as much as possible, rather than close down with a wide safety margin.
Is it safe? No. You might want it to be safe, but the water is full of chemicals and hydrocarbons, not all of them necessarily obvious. Because the Gulf is big and fluid, the contamination zone spreads over a wide area but is not
consistent. There may be visible oil in an area one day, and not the next. But once a place has been hit by the oil and dispersants, toxic chemicals will remain. Think about a runoff pond next to a gas station. You wouldn't drink out of that, or fish out of it, or swim in it, because all the crud from the parking lot is running down there. Same with the Gulf, only a whole lot worse. Don't put too much stock in the news, and don't let your desire for fun at the beach run away with you. Pay attention to your nose and your survival instincts.
Will the government/BP/etc. clean up the mess adequately? No. After all, these are the people who allowed the carnage in the first place. Not even the wildlife and nature organizations, whose heart is in the right place, can do a
perfect job of cleanup. Our ability to harm the world exceeds our ability and willingness to undo the damage. The most obvious signs may be removed, which is helpful, but some always remains behind. Marshes hit by the Exxon Valdez spill years ago still have oil in them; if you pick up a handful of mud and squeeze it over the water, you'll see rainbows.
Some official sources will say it's safe; others will say the opposite. This always happens in case of oil slicks and other chemical disasters. Nobody ever wants to admit that things are as bad as they are, and they don't want to pay for the consequences, so they either delude themselves or just lie outright. If you want to be actually safe, however, you err on the side of caution, you give that a wide safety margin, and you do not trust people who are paid to soothe you. 10 or 20 years down the line, the data will pile up and point back to this, which is about how long it usually takes for the preponderance of data from the damage to add up. Just skip the bullshit and admit that we poisoned the Gulf, and stay out of it. Don't swim in it, don't go near it without protective gear, and don't eat out of it.
Check back after a decade or two and see if there seem to be areas that are clean with abundant healthy wildlife in them. If there are, those areas are worth considering as possible swimming or fishing sites. If not, keep checking back every decade or so. Also make sure you remind younger folks, who might not remember this, that the Gulf was contaminated and should not be considered safe without very careful investigation.