Saving Seafood

FDA rejects much imported seafood containing ‘filth’

April 13, 2016 — “Don’t wait until you get sick to start ask questions about where your shrimp is coming from,” 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 “filth,” veterinary-drug residues and salmonella, the ASPA said. “Filth” is used to describe anything that shouldn’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.

“The safety of imported seafood clearly continues to be of significant concern, based on the number of shipments refused by FDA,” 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 — KODIAK, Alaska — 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 he’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 don’t need special permits to hose down their decks.

He said he is “working to make sure new regulations don’t place an undue burden on the industry.

See the full story at the Alaska Dispatch News