Saving Seafood

“Whitefish wars” driving Vietnam’s pangasius away from EU, US

February 7, 2018 — The rapid growth of Vietnam’s pangasius shipments has met with several markets barriers in the European Union and United States, where the fish is being gradually pushed away.

With similarity in texture and taste to other whitefish such as cod, sole, haddock, and pollock, but with much lower prices, pangasius from the Southeast Asia nation has quickly become a competitive alternative in the U.S. and E.U., Nguyen Tien Thong, an assistant professor of applied economics and marketing research at the University of Southern Denmark, told SeafoodSource.

But Thong, also a research associate with analytics firm Syntesa, with a specialty in price formation and consumer preference for seafood, said pangasius’ growth in the U.S. and E.U. markets has been actively thwarted by market barriers erected by both the industry’s competitors and erroneous reporting by mass media.

Vietnam’s pangasius exports were worth USD 1.78 billion (EUR 1.43 billion) last year, up 4.3 percent from 2016. But the export value to the U.S. and E.U. fell 11 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively, recently released data from Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters (VASEP) revealed.

Three “wars” against pangasius

European and Vietnamese seafood experts have collectively created a new term for the campaigns surrounding pangasius, calling them the ”whitefish wars.”

The most recent round of this war broke out in early 2017, when a television segment on Spain’s Cuatro channel claimed pangasius farming was polluting the Mekong Delta. Two weeks later, French retail giant Carrefour decided to suspend sales of Vietnamese pangasius in all its stores in Belgium, France, and Spain. Carrefour attributed its decision to “the doubts that persist about the adverse impacts that pangasius farms have on the environment.”

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council responded to Carrefour’s move with a statement insisting the facts did not support Carrefour’s pangasius decision, and VASEP said repeatedly that the Cuatro report provided distorted information. Seeking to help combat the growing ”PR crisis,” 20 of Vietnam’s leading pangasius exporters joined together to create a market development fund in June 2017. But the rebuttals appeared largely ineffective at halting the negative impact on pangasius sales.

However, Thong argues that the “whitefish war” began as early as 2000, and started in the United States. In that year, about 90 percent of the catfish imported by the U.S. was from Vietnam. Feeling threatened, U.S. catfish growers and wholesalers started a campaign to curtail imports of Vietnamese pangasius into the country.

For years, pangasius faced high anti-dumping duties imposed by the U.S government, and a push for increased inspections. After a protracted political debate, in August 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) began inspecting all imported pangasius. Only a few months after the decision, only two of 14 Vietnamese pangasius exporters are still shipping pangasius to the U.S., according to VASEP.

In the E.U., backlash against pangasius started in late 2010, when the World Wildlife Fund placed the fish on the “red list,” effectively branding it a no-buy for environmentally conscientious consumers, Thong said. The attempt, which Thong termed as the second “war,” was made after the fish became a significant substitute fish to other whitefish raised in many European countries.

A few years later, WWF reversed course on pangasius, giving its backing to all Vietnamese-produced pangasius awarded Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification.

Further controversy was ignited in 2011 when Member of the European Parliament Struan Stevenson, senior vice president of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, attacked the pangasius’ environmental, social, and safety credentials during an address to the European Parliament.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Southeastern Fisheries Association Takes Firm Stand on Catfish Inspection Program

October 26, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA) has issued a statement opposing the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new catfish inspection program.

According to the organization, the new program creates “impossible compliance situations” for fish farms and wild caught fisheries. SFA is standing with catfish fishermen and dealers who believe that the program is “unnecessary, inefficient and would needlessly harm dealers, processors and harvesters of wild-caught domestic catfish.”

“Wild-caught catfish harvesters and dealers will have extreme difficulty complying,” Bob Jones, the executive director of SFA, said in a press release. “The new regulations are onerous and unnecessary.”

SFA’s position on the new regulations is that fishermen and fish houses that sell wild-caught catfish should be exempt from the FSIS program. The organization believe that the inspection program, which will be conducted by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), will result in lost jobs.

FSIS is reportedly considering an exemption from the inspection program for wild-caught, domestic catfish.

 

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

SFA Members Speak Out on New, Impractical Catfish Rules

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — October 25, 2017 — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association:

Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA) members have joined catfish fishermen and dealers across the country opposing a new catfish inspection program recently launched by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The new program imposes rules designed for fish farms and imports on wild caught fisheries, creating impossible compliance situations. The wild-caught catfish industry maintains the program is unnecessary, inefficient, and would needlessly harm dealers, processers and harvesters of wild-caught domestic catfish.

The new inspection program, to be conducted by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), was initially intended to provide additional inspections to farm-raised foreign catfish in competition with domestic farmed catfish. However, the new inspection program unnecessarily includes domestic wild-caught catfish.

“Wild-caught catfish harvesters and dealers will have extreme difficulty complying,” said Bob Jones, Executive Director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association. “These new regulations are onerous and unnecessary.

SFA members testified at a public hearing in August before the regulations went into effect in Webster, Florida, where representatives of the USDA and FSIS invited fishing industry stakeholders. SFA voiced its position that fishermen and fish houses that sell wild-caught catfish must be exempt from the FSIS program that will cost hundreds of jobs because the small fish houses that only buy smaller quantities of saltwater and freshwater catfish cannot meet the requirements of a plan designed for factory farms.

Unlike seafood farms, and imports where fish can be harvested or defrosted on a specific schedule, fresh wild-caught seafood is often landed in large quantities when the boats come back to the dock. “How can you clean 10,000 pounds of fish in an eight-hour day?” voiced Okeechobee catfish fishermen Tommy Ayers. His concerns were echoed by Ted Brozanski, President and COO of Stokes Fish Company.

“Tommy has been fishing for 58 years and you guys have cut his income by 38 percent because he can no longer fish on weekends or holidays,” Mr. Brozanski said.

He raised other issues with the new inspection program, including the fact that limited inspection hours can reduce the quality and value of product for fishermen and fish houses. For example, fishermen will not be able bring in fish that have to be cleaned over the weekend or outside normal hours, as many fish houses will be unable to afford the cost $70-per-hour overtime pay that FSIS inspectors are paid for working weekends and holidays.

FSIS representatives at the hearing indicated that a potential exception from the program was possible for wild-caught, domestic catfish. SFA urges FSIS to implement this exception.

About the Southeastern Fisheries Association
The SFA has served the commercial fishing industry for 65 years. SFA’s mission is to defend, protect and enhance the commercial fishing industry in the southeastern United States for present participants as well as future generations through all legal means while maintaining healthy and sustainable stocks of fish. SFA is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida.

 

John McCain urges delay in new catfish inspection rules

September 1, 2017 — Sen. John McCain is mounting a last-minute plea to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to delay implementation of new catfish inspection rules slated to fully kick in Friday, saying all catfish inspections should be returned to the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration.

Mr. McCain said the new inspection regime under the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is a thinly-disguised trade barrier against Asian catfish imports at the hands of domestic farmers in southern states.

“This wasteful program is a classic example of shortsighted, anti-free market protectionism at its worst,” Mr. McCain wrote in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue this week.

“I request that you delay implementation of the USDA Catfish Inspection Program until Congress has an opportunity to reverse this duplicative, wasteful program,” he wrote.

Most fish is inspected by the FDA, but Congress — led by southern Republicans looking to protect their state’s industry — included language in the 2008 Farm bill that set the stage to transfer catfish inspections to a more intrusive process under FSIS.

Read the full story at the Washington Times

USDA to Host Listening Session of Catfish Rules Friday in Webster, Florida

SFA Members to Voice Concerns of Industry

August 24, 2017 — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service will host a public “listening session” on new catfish inspection rules this Friday, August 25, in Webster, Florida. Members of the Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA) will join other members of the industry in voicing their concerns over the new rules, which threaten the future of wild-caught U.S. catfish.

On September 1, the USDA will implement new inspection rules for catfish. Designed for catfish imported from large fish farms in Asia, the rules will also apply to small, domestic fish houses that land wild-caught catfish. Many of these small-scale operations will be unable to absorb the costs that these new regulations will impose, which may force them out of the catfish industry completely.

“There is no reason that small, local fisheries should be treated the same as large, industrial fish farms,” said Bob Jones, Executive Director of SFA. “These new rules will unnecessarily hurt small, rural businesses and decrease the availability of U.S.-caught seafood.”

In addition to being a financial burden on many small catfish harvesters, SFA believes that these rules are also unnecessary and duplicative. The Food and Drug Administration already inspects imported seafood and ensures that it meets all health and safety standards. The new USDA program increases will increase the regulatory burden on many fishermen without producing better results.

The following members from the Southeastern Fisheries Association will be in attendance:

  • Jimmy Hull – Chairman of the Board, Hull’s Seafood, Ormond Beach, Fl.
  • Peter Jarvis – President, Triar Seafood, Hollywood, Florida
  • Tony Lombardi – Vice President, Lombardi’s Seafood, Orlando, Florida
  • Mike Merrifield – Fish Section Chairman, Wild Ocean Seafood, Titusville, Florida
  • Jim Busse – Leadership Team, Seafood Atlantic, Cape Canaveral, Florida
  • Ben Williams – Leadership Team, retired fisherman, dealer, processor
  • Bob Jones, Executive Director, Southeastern Fisheries Association, Tallahassee, Florida

The listening session will be held from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Florida Bass Conservation Center, at 2583 CR 788 in Webster, Florida.

About the Southeastern Fisheries Association

The SFA has served the commercial fishing industry for over 60 years. SFA’s mission is to defend, protect and enhance the commercial fishing industry in the southeastern United States for present participants as well as future generations through all legal means while maintaining healthy and sustainable stocks of fish. SFA is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida.

Read the release here

USDA offers cramming sessions on ‘wild caught’ catfish regs

August 22, 2017 — Ten days away from the beginning of full enforcement of USDA catfish inspections, the department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is doing a little remedial training for “wild-caught” producers.

The FSIS has scheduled educational meetings Thursday at the Holiday Inn Memphis Airport and Convention Center, and on Friday at the Florida Bass Conservation Center in Webster, FL.

The meetings are to “discuss the enforcement and implementation of the Final Rule on the mandatory inspection of fish of the order Siluriformes and products derived from such fish” with FSIS seeking out “participation from representatives from domestic wild-caught operations that process Siluriformes fish and fish products,” according to a notice from the government agency.

While most “wild-caught” catfish go home with those lucky enough to catch them, the FSIS rules cover some commercial operations. Under the rule, FSIS will inspect both wild-caught and farm-raised catfish processed in official establishments and test them for metals, dyes, pesticides and animal drug residues.

FSIS requires that fish harvested for human food, whether wild-caught or farm-raised, not be raised “under conditions that would render them unsound, unhealthful, or otherwise unfit for human food.”

A variety of “farm-raised,” methods including fish in pools and floating cages are covered.

Read the full story at Food Safety News

Virginia’s booming wild-caught blue catfish industry may weaken under federal regulation

July 24, 2017 — It’s been a rough year for Virginia’s seafood industry.

Earlier this year, the U.S. cap on foreign seasonal H2B workers forced some local seafood processing plants to shut down parts of their operations. Then came the bad news that blue crab harvests would be reduced this fall and next spring, after fisheries managers determined the juvenile population was low.

Now, the new wild-caught, blue catfish industry is at risk because of tighter inspection rules set for full implementation by the USDA on Sept. 1. It will be the only fish to come under USDA inspection.

Though the inspections were meant to help U.S. catfish farmers compete with Asian imports by leveling the playing field, it puts all catfish, including wild-caught blue catfish, under the same strict inspections as meat, poultry and eggs.

Mike Hutt, who promotes the state’s seafood industry, said Virginia has not had any problems with quality or recalls. He said many of the processors are small operations that have been in business for 30 or 40 years and won’t be able to afford the cost of coming up to code.

“With these rules put in place, I don’t know that we’ll have any processors left, or maybe one or two,” Hutt said. “All of these issues are putting impairments on them being able to run a business like they’ve run it for years, with a good, quality product.”

Read the full story at Fredericksburg.com

USDA Declines to Institute Grade A Catfish Program; Elects to Continue USDC Grading

January 31, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The USDA published a federal register notice today that it will not go forward with a Grade A catfish inspection program. Instead it urges users to continue to use the USDC Grade A catfish inspection program run by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) and the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill) directed the Secretary of Agriculture to establish within USDA a voluntary, fee-based grading program for catfish. Since passage of the 2008 and 2014 Farm Bills, and particularly since the publication of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) final rule, “Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes and Products Derived From Such Fish,” which defined catfish (80 FR 75589), AMS has engaged the U.S. catfish industry and other stakeholders to seek input on requirements for voluntary U.S. standards for grades of catfish.

During the 60-day comment period, four responses were submitted–two from catfish importers, one from an industry institution, and one from a U.S. catfish producer/processor. One importer stated support for a USDA grading program if it included all Siluriformes species (currently, imported products of many varieties of Siluriformes are not eligible to be graded under the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Standard). Two additional responses did not support USDA’s development of voluntary U.S. standards or a grading program. One pointed out the duplicity of creating these under AMS when they already exist under NFMS, noting the unnecessary use of resources to develop a program “and market to a consuming [public] that is not demanding a new U.S. Grade Standard;” the other recommended the use of the NMFS standards and grading program, as these are already familiar to the industry and their customers.

Based on the responses received from the Notice as well as additional feedback from stakeholders through other avenues, including two industry workshops coordinated by AMS and academia and an industry-wide conference call held by AMS in May 2016, AMS has concluded that there is not sufficient interest in USDA-AMS standards for catfish or an AMS-administered grading program at this time.

It is important to note that a standard for catfish, and associated voluntary grading services, are currently available to the industry through NMFS. NMFS maintains the “United States Standards for Grades of North American Freshwater Catfish and Products Made Therefrom” and provides grading and certification services on a fee-for-service basis. Graded catfish and catfish products may bear official marks, including `U.S. Grade A,’ `Processed Under Federal Inspection,’ and `Lot Inspection.’ Additional services provided by NMFS include system and process audits, product inspection, and export certification.

In light of the response from industry stakeholders indicating there is no current need for USDA-AMS standards nor a subsequent AMS-administered grading program for catfish, AMS will discontinue the initiative to establish either at this time. AMS stands ready to assist agricultural industries in establishing voluntary standards and grading programs for commodities for which it has authority to do so; the catfish industry retains this option should the need arise.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

FDA, EPA Release Final Fish Consumption Advice

January 24, 2017 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have issued final advice regarding fish consumption, with the aim of helping pregnant women and those of childbearing years, along with breastfeeding mothers and parents of young children, make better choices about healthy and safe-to-eat fish, including shellfish.

To simplify the selection process, the agencies have created a reference chart (pictured) that sorts 62 types of fish into three categories: “Best choices” (two to three weekly servings recommended), “Good choices” (one weekly serving), and “Fish to Avoid.” According to FDA and EPA, “Best Choices” fish make up almost 90 percent of fish consumed in the United States.

An FDA analysis of fish consumption data discovered that half of pregnant women surveyed ate fewer than 2 ounces a week, much less than the recommended amount. Because the nutritional advantages of fish consumption are key to healthy development during pregnancy and early childhood, the agencies are advising two to three weekly servings of lower-mercury fish for pregnant women and women who may become pregnant, or 8 to 12 ounces. However, since all fish contain at least traces of mercury, which can be harmful to the brain and nervous system after prolonged exposure, the maximum level of consumption recommended in the final advice is still the previously recommended weekly level of 12 ounces, consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

For adults, a usual serving is 4 ounces of fish, measured before cooking, while serving sizes for children should be smaller and adjusted by age and total calorie needs. The agencies recommend that children eat fish once or twice weekly, chosen from a variety of species.

Read the full story at the Progressive Grocer

NOAA: Americans are catching and eating more fish

November 1, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine  — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its annual Fisheries of the United States report for 2015 last week and, by almost any measure, the news was good.

Whether they are more health-conscious or some other factors came into play, the per capita consumption of fish and shellfish last year was 15.5 pounds. That’s an increase of just under a pound over the 14.6 pounds of seafood (and freshwater fish) Americans consumed in 2014.

All that good eating — if you included goodies like fried catfish, breaded scallops and fish sticks — didn’t come cheap. U.S. consumers spent some $96 billion for the products from various fisheries last year.

What was good for the nation’s consumers was good for the economy, too. The commercial marine fishing industry contributed about $48.7 billion to the domestic Gross National Product — including the “value added” aspects of the industry such as processing.

The commercial fishing industry had a strong year in terms of volume in 2015 but, in some fisheries, prices dropped enough to affect the “ex-vessel” price across all fisheries.

All commercial landings increased 2.4 percent from 2014 to a total of 9.7 pounds. Finfish represented 88 percent of landings, but just 46 percent of landed value — reflecting the high value of species such as lobster and scallops.

A closer look at the numbers shows that U.S. fishermen landed almost 7.8 billion pounds of edible fish and shellfish at ports within the 50 states — down 78 million pounds from 2014. Stateside landings of fish for industrial uses (animal feed, agricultural and other products) were almost 2 billion pounds, up 19 percent from the year before.

American lobster landings were 145.9 million pounds valued at $617.2 million — a decrease of 1.9 million pounds (over 1 percent), but an increase of $50.6 million (nearly 9 percent) compared with 2014. Maine led in landings for the 34th consecutive year with 121.7 million pounds valued at more than $498.4 million — a decrease of 2.4 million pounds (nearly 2 percent) compared with 2014. Massachusetts, the second leading producer, had landings of 16.4 million pounds valued at $78.3 million — an increase of 1.1 million pounds (over 7 percent) compared with 2014. Together, Maine and Massachusetts produced almost 95 percent of the total national landings. The average ex-vessel price per pound was $4.23 in 2015, compared with $3.83 in 2014.

Read the full story at the The Ellsworth American