July 1, 2011

US catfish famers support USDA's regulation

US catfish farmers are expressing support for a proposed regulation that makes inspections of catfish by USDA compulsory, according to an evaluation by the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA).

Its findings show that 84% of the public comments on the rule support the adoption of a broad definition of the species that would cover imports of tra, basa and other whitefish species from Asia.

"The comments make it absolutely clear that consumers, chefs, scientists, public officials and members of the catfish industry all agree that our government needs to guarantee the safety of every catfish that lands on a plate in the US, regardless of where it was raised," wrote Butch Wilson, president of CFA.

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI), which represents pangasius importers, refuted that the quantity of comments does not supersede the arguments against the proposal.

"A special interest lobbying group can make the same false argument 84% of the time and it does not make it right," NFI Spokesperson Gavin Gibbons stated, reports Memphis Commercial Appeal.

The USDA held two days of public comment in May to help determine whether its Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) should inspect all domestic and imported species of the order "siluriformes" and span basa, swai, pangasius and other Vietnamese whitefish imports, or only members of the "ictaluridae" family, which would chiefly include the catfish raised in the US and a small portion of imports, excluding pangasius from Asia.