Saving Seafood

Federal funding targets invasive blue catfish in Chesapeake Bay

September 10, 2026 — Up to $6 million in federal grant funding will be available to help seafood processors expand capacity for handling invasive blue catfish, a move intended to support efforts to remove the species from Chesapeake Bay waterways while creating additional market opportunities for the seafood industry.

The funding is available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, according to a community announcement. Grants ranging from $50,000 to $2 million may be used to expand facilities, purchase equipment and increase processing capacity for invasive wild-caught catfish.

Applications are due Dec. 7 through grants.gov.

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, announced the funding opportunity and said expanding processing capacity could strengthen demand for wild-caught invasive catfish. Harris also said increased harvesting could help reduce the population of blue catfish, which scientists and fisheries managers have identified as a threat to native species in the Chesapeake Bay.

Read the full article at Delmarva now.

USDA announces another USD 6 million to expand invasive catfish processing

September 9, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced another USD 6 million (EUR 5.2 million) in funding to expand processing capacity for invasive wild blue catfish, matching the amount made available in 2025.

“Under the leadership of President Trump, the USDA is actively implementing actionable and innovative solutions like this one that solve serious challenges,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a release. “By investing in seafood processors, we can help our hardworking watermen remove invasive catfish from our waterways while strengthening the future of our rural communities.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Virginia’s fishing industry has the blue catfish blues

June 15, 2026 — Over the last decade, invasive blue catfish have outcompeted nearly every native fish and shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay, putting generational watermen and fishmongers out of business. But if managed correctly, researchers from Virginia Tech’s Seafood and Agricultural Research & Extension Center in Hampton believe this invasive fish could spur a lucrative new commercial fishery with an annual economic impact of over $1 billion.

Native to the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio river basins, blue catfish were introduced to Virginia’s rivers in the 1970s as a new trophy fishery for recreational anglers.

As blue catfish populations grew and food supplies ran short in the James, Rappahannock and York rivers, blue catfish began venturing beyond their freshwater habitats into the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

Michael Schwarz, associate director of the Virginia Tech center, estimated that between 750 million and 1 billion pounds of blue catfish now swim in the Chesapeake Bay. Their collective biomass is greater than every other Chesapeake Bay species combined. And their habitat is still expanding — blue catfish have made their way into North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

“It’s an uncontrolled invasive species that is eating all of our traditional species that our seafood industries rely on,” Schwarz said.

Surging catfish populations and diminished native fisheries are causing a state of emergency across the industry, said Shelby White, a researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester.

Read the full article at VPM

Invasive blue catfish turn problem into fishery

June 2, 2026 — Fishermen and chefs hope to feed people and eradicate invasive blue catfish at the same time.

Blue catfish have become a manmade disaster in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. They’re an invasive species spreading throughout the region and eating whatever they can find. On the upside, they’re good eating, and some commercial fishermen and anglers are doing well catching them.

The problem began, as many do, with good intentions. In 1974, striped bass stocks were declining, and the state sought to provide a new species for anglers to catch. Chester F. Phelps, then executive director of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, oversaw the introduction of 300,000 blue catfish into the James River. More stocking followed, and in 1985, Virginia stocked blue catfish in the York River. Blue catfish, native to the Mississippi River watershed, seemed like a good fit for Virginia rivers.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MARYLAND: Maryland lawmakers vote to expand blue catfish pilot program

April 29, 2026 — Lawmakers in the U.S. state of Maryland have voted to pass legislation expanding its blue catfish pilot program, which was instituted to help remove more of the invasive fish from the state’s waterways.

Introduced recreationally in the 1960s, voracious blue catfish have since spread throughout Maryland, outcompeting native species and harming local ecosystems. State governments in both Maryland and neighboring Virginia have tried to encourage their removal from waterways by offering financial incentives for those who catch them and supporting local processors.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

VIRGINIA: Virginia awards USD 248,000 to Wanchese Fish Company for catfish processing

April 1, 2026 — The state of Virginia has awarded USD 248,000 (EUR 214,857) to the Wanchese Fish Company as part of a government program designed to increase blue catfish production capacity.

“With a total economic impact of more than USD 1 billion (EUR 866,372,317) annually, Virginia’s seafood industry is a major driver of local economic growth. In addition to the investment in the Commonwealth’s seafood industry and overall economy, today’s announcement serves as another step forward in protecting the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia’s waterways from the invasive Blue Catfish,” Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger said in a release. “Congratulations to Wanchese Fish Company on receiving this grant and increasing the capacity for blue catfish processing in Suffolk and expanding market opportunities for Virginia’s watermen.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

VIRGINIA: The blue catfish: If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em

March 30, 2026 —  Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture, Katie Frazier, was in Suffolk Friday to hand globally-known Suffolk-based Wanchese Fish Company a check for $248,000, which will allow it to quicky process blue catfish. Beginning in the seventies, the fish was used to stock rivers for sport fishing.

But now it is considered an ecological threat to the Chesapeake Bay. That’s why now, the state’s position is if you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em. According to NOAA, the taste is described as slightly sweet and clean.

“Processing equipment is, obviously, very expensive,” said Joel Richardson, a spokesperson for Wanchese Fish Company. “But we’re also adding jobs, and we’re hoping that over the next number of years, as we grow and we’re working buying fish from local fishermen, and going to be processing it.

Read the full article at WAVY.com

USDA issues USD 2 million in grant funding to improve blue catfish processing capacity

March 23, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued USD 2 million (EUR 1.7 million) in grant funding to two businesses to improve processing capacity for blue catfish, an invasive and prolific species in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

State and federal lawmakers have worked to increase processing capacity and grow the market for blue catfish, a voracious fish that can have a devastating impact on local ecosystems. In 2021, U.S. Congress established the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program under USDA to expand food processing capacity, and lawmakers have worked to ensure some funding is set aside to support catfish processing in the Chesapeake Bay region. Last year, USDA announced USD 6 million (EUR 5.2 million) in grant funding was available through the program for catfish processors.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US House passes MAWS Act

March 19, 2026 — The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Mitigation Action and Waterman Support (MAWS) Act, legislation designed to support the use of invasive blue catfish in pet food products, on 17 March.

“With House passage of the MAWS Act, we are one step closer to creating new opportunities in a growing market for blue catfish, which pose a direct ecological and economic threat to the Chesapeake Bay,” U.S. Representative Sarah Elfreth (D-Maryland) said in a release. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to get this legislation past the finish line. If we can prove this innovative strategy works in the Chesapeake [Bay], my hope is it can utilize similar tools in waterways across the country – like invasive carp in the Mississippi [River] and Great Lakes.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

USDA announces USD 6 million to increase catfish production around Chesapeake Bay

August 8, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced USD 6 million (EUR 5.2 million) in grant funding to increase catfish processing in the Chesapeake Bay region as part of an ongoing state and federal effort to manage the invasive species.

First introduced as a recreational fish in the 1960s, blue catfish quickly spread throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, predating on and taking resources from native species and upsetting local ecosystems. State and federal governments, as well as local nonprofit organizations, have worked to remove catfish from the waters, incentivizing fishers to land more of the invasive species, encouraging consumers to eat more, and finding new applications for the fish.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource