Saving Seafood

FDA rejects much imported seafood containing โ€˜filthโ€™

April 13, 2016 โ€” โ€œDonโ€™t wait until you get sick to start ask questions about where your shrimp is coming from,โ€ cautions David Veal, president of the American Shrimp Processors Association, which is based in Biloxi.

This comes after a new U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis shows the Food and Drug Administration rejects thousands of imported seafood shipments each year because the fish is unfit to eat.

Between 2005 and 2013, nearly 18,000 shipments were refused entry into the United States for containing unsafe levels of โ€œfilth,โ€ veterinary-drug residues and salmonella, the ASPA said. โ€œFilthโ€ is used to describe anything that shouldnโ€™t be in food, such as rat feces, parasites, illegal antibiotics and glass shards. Salmonella can make consumers sick, leading to hospitalization and even death.

โ€œThe safety of imported seafood clearly continues to be of significant concern, based on the number of shipments refused by FDA,โ€ the USDA said in a summary of its findings.

See the rest of the story at the Sun Herald

ALASKA: Senator Dan Sullivan getting immersed in fishery issues in Congress

April 11, 2016 โ€” KODIAK, Alaska โ€” Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan has scored seats on nearly every congressional committee that deals with issues on, over and under the oceans, fulfilling a commitment he made to Kodiak when he ran for office two years ago.

When he visited Kodiak last week, Sullivan ticked off a list of fishery-related actions heโ€™s had a hand in getting accomplished over the last year: passage of an enforcement act to combat global fish pirating and seafood fraud; adding language to bills that lift pricey classification requirements on new fishing vessels; and a one-year water discharge exemption so fishermen donโ€™t need special permits to hose down their decks.

He said he is โ€œworking to make sure new regulations donโ€™t place an undue burden on the industry.

See the full story at the Alaska Dispatch News