March 23, 2015 — A white flaky fish that recently overtook cod and crab to become the sixth most popular seafood in the U.S. could soon disappear from American dinner plates.
Depending on whom you ask, the reason stems from either imported food safety concerns or a bureaucratic entanglement designed to protect the shrinking market share of American-produced catfish.
The fish in question—pangasius—is produced in Southeast Asia, mostly in Vietnam, and often appears on restaurant menus as basa or swai.
Pangasius lives in fresh water and has barbels or “whiskers” just like American catfish, which is a closely related cousin. Indeed, it used to be called catfish until Congress prohibited that labeling in 2002.
Pangasius supplies could dry up as early as this year as the Agriculture Department assumes control over catfish and pangasius this spring—a job currently done by the Food and Drug Administration. The USDA is expected to impose tough new standards on Vietnam and other countries that export pangasius to the U.S.
There have been no major illnesses linked to pangasius in the U.S., or at least not any more than with other fish. But U.S. catfish farmers, who are mainly in Mississippi and a couple of other Southern states, pressed for tighter import standards. They say they fear a potential health scare related to pangasius would undermine the reputation of the catfish industry.
Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal