New Web site blasts Vietnamese pangasius

The Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) of Jackson, Miss., has launched a Web site, www.safecatfish.com, attacking the integrity of catfish and pangasius imported from Vietnam.

In press release on Monday, the CFA called the Mekong Delta, where pangasius is raised, “polluted and contaminated.” Posted on the site is a new report titled “Dirty Waters, Dangerous Fish” that claims to reveal the “unsanitary” conditions under which pangasius are farmed.

In a four-minute YouTube clip on the site, the documentary’s narrator says, “The town of Chau Doc near the Cambodia border is a good example of the effects of uncontrollable growth. Houses on stilts line the river and the city’s canals. Sewage from these houses goes directly into the water … All this sewage, wastewater and industrial pollutants end up in nearby catfish ponds … Often the intake pipes that feed the fish ponds are adjacent to makeshift toilets and busy commercial boat traffic.”

The site stems from a public awareness campaign the CFA introduced last October asking the U.S. government to hold imported catfish and pangasius to the same food-safety standards as domestic catfish.

The CFA is urging U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to enact a measure included in the 2008 Farm Bill that would move oversight of catfish inspections from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is currently responsible for inspecting all seafood, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Vilsack is also looking at changing the definition of “catfish” to include pangasius, reversing a 2002 law.) The USDA rule was slated to be published last December but has been delayed.

The CFA also blasted the FDA for inspecting only about 2 percent of imported seafood from Vietnam. The CFA’s comments come as the General Accountability Office said in a report on Monday that FDA needs greater authority, more cooperation from other agencies and more scientific research to help make the U.S. food supply safer.

U.S. pangasius importers accuse the CFA of misrepresenting the conditions under which pangasius are raised and call the measure moving oversight of catfish inspections to the USDA protectionist and unnecessary, rather than an effort to improve food safety.

All Supply & Trade stories >
Subscribe

Want seafood news sent to your inbox?

You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Diversified Communications | 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101 | +1 207-842-5500
None