The U.S. Department of Agriculture has made its biggest seafood purchase ever – it announced on Thursday, 13 May that it bought USD 70.9 million (EUR 58.7 million) in fish and shrimp products.
The purchases are part of the department’s Section 32 program, which buys surplus goods for nutritional programs. Federal lawmakers in seafood producing states worked to increase funding for the program in several COVID-19 relief bills to provide an additional market for fishermen who saw their businesses struggle to sell products during the pandemic.
“The impacts of COVID-19 reverberated from our farms to our oceans,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “U.S. fisheries and the American seafood industry were dealt a heavy blow. Today, USDA is pleased to make the largest single seafood purchase in the Department’s history. These healthy, nutritious food purchases will benefit food banks and non-profits helping those struggling with food hardship as the Biden Administration works to get the economy back on track for American families.”
Among the seafood products purchased in the USD 159.4 million (EUR 132.1 million) appropriation are: USD 20 million (EUR 16.6 million) worth of Alaska pollock, USD 25 million (EUR 20.7 million) of wild-caught shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic, USD 4 million (EUR 3.3 million) of Pacific pink shrimp, USD 4 million (EUR 3.3 million) of Pacific rockfish fillets, USD 9 million (EUR 7.5 million) of Pacific whiting fillets, and USD 8.9 million (EUR 7.4 million) of sockeye (red) salmon.
John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, was elated to see such a large purchase of shrimp for the USDA’s “much-needed” food assistance programs.
“For many throughout the country, food assistance programs are an essential lifeline for families struggling to deal with the economic consequences of this pandemic,” he said. “We are grateful to the USDA for providing assistance to our fellow Americans in need while simultaneously addressing the impact that COVID-19 has had on the domestic shrimp industry.”
The USDA said that it will issue solicitations in mid-June with contract awards occurring at the end of June. Product deliveries should start by mid-August.
