According to the report Sen. Thad Cochran (R), whose home state of Mississippi is the nation’s catfish capital, led the charge, helping to insert bill language that called for the USDA to include catfish and “amenable species.” It is said that Cochran has provided a $16 million earmark. But the domestic producers cited food-safety concerns. The FDA has found banned pesticides and antibiotics in some catfish imported from Vietnam, but no deaths have been linked to imported catfish. U.S.
This raises concern and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that fish in general account for 3 percent of the nation’s salmonella-related deaths. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was charged with sorting out the issues. Vilsack declined to comment but USDA officials said that because the department is still developing the program, details are confidential.
It is mentioned that the decided that Vietnamese fish should be included in the new program, a move likely to generate fierce opposition from importers. The draft of the rules states that the catfish regulatory program would save an estimated 36 lives annually from salmonella-related deaths.
USDA officials would not say whether the safety claims are in the final version they submitted to the Office of Management and Budget. If the rules are posted as expected this month, foreign catfish producers predicted fireworks. Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute, said that the industry is going to speak loudly.
