Traditionally, all seafood imports into the United States must be inspected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while imports of foodstuffs of all other types are handled by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
That's still how it works, with one small exception: Any catfish coming into the United States will have to be inspected by the USDA. This little wrinkle came back in 2008, slipped almost as an afterthought into the update that year to the Farm Bill, which sets these regulations.
Recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) declared the program a waste of money. Various fiscal conservative government watchdog groups and a growing number of senators and U.S. Representatives from both sides of the political aisle have noted that the program has spent the USD 20 million just to equip itself to do the inspections, let alone actually inspect any fish.
The vast majority want this program cut, except for domestic catfish producers and Sen. Thad Cochran (pictured), R-Miss. He's a ranking member of the Senate Agricultural Committee which, in cooperation with the House Agricultural Committee, was responsible for preparing the bill for a vote on the floor.
Cochran has declined several requests by SeafoodSource to provide a comment of any kind on the issue. His office has pointed us to statements he has made in the past on the subject, which indicate the senator trusts the USDA more than the FDA to inspect catfish coming in from other countries.
Whether there is any real health risk connected to catfish, as opposed to the rest of the seafood exported to America (more than 90 percent of total seafood consumed here, by the way), is not clear, but anyone who thinks this is the senator's only motivation must consider some other facts.
Most importantly, the rule sets up a lot more red tape for countries such as Vietnam who want to export pangasius, a type of catfish, to the United States, whether the USDA ever gets around to inspecting it or not. That spells very good news for the USD 1 billion domestic catfish industry, which is a strong constituency in Sen. Cochran's home state.
Clearly, the Mississippi catfish industry is driving the bus on this one. Apparently, said industry cares little about foreign catfish exporters. It also doesn't seem to care about the American companies that import and distribute Vietnamese catfish, and the impact this trade barrier — for what else can we call it — has on their future.
This is pork-barrel politics at its worst, and if you're a part of the seafood industry — whether you're based in Mississippi or not — and you haven't told the senator how ridiculous you think this program is, now is the time. This catfish program has survived the ax twice, and if it really does have nine lives, we could be stuck with this waste for quite a while.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On July 9, 2026, the Embassy of Vietnam in Brazil organized the seminar titled “Sharing Information on Vietnam-Brazil Economic, Trade and Investment Relations in the First Half of 2026” to provide updates on bilateral cooperation and strengthen connections among government agencies, industry associations, and business communities of the two countries.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Seafood exports in the first 6 months of the year continued to be a bright spot with a total turnover of 5.7 billion USD, an increase of 11.4% compared to the same period last year. By commodity group, seafood is one of the three groups with a trade balance in the first 6 months of 2026 in a surplus state with 4.13 billion USD, an increase of 17%.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) For many years, Vietnam’s seafood industry has been recognized as one of the country’s key export pillars. Products such as shrimp, pangasius, tuna, squid, octopus, and a wide range of other seafood have reached hundreds of markets worldwide. Yet behind these impressive export figures lies a significant challenge: a substantial share of Vietnam’s seafood export value still comes from minimally processed products, contract manufacturing, and raw material exports—segments characterized by low profit margins and high vulnerability to fluctuations in global prices.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the context of a global economy shifting powerfully toward green and sustainable values, Vietfish 2026 is far more than just a commercial trade fair. It has become a strategic rendezvous and a "comprehensive ecosystem"—a convergence of value, knowledge, and sustainable growth opportunities for the entire industry chain.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s pangasius exports to Colombia continued their strong upward momentum in May 2026. Export value to the market reached USD 4 million, up 24% compared to the same month in 2025. Cumulative exports in the first five months of 2026 totaled USD 24 million, an impressive 48% increase year-on-year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Hai Phong's aquaculture sector is accelerating the adoption of high technologies in aquaculture to adapt to climate change, with red tilapia and tilapia identified as the key cultured species for priority development.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s seafood exports reached nearly US$1.1 billion in June 2026, up 21.0% year-on-year. Cumulative exports in the first half of 2026 totaled nearly US$5.8 billion, representing a 12.8% increase compared with the same period last year. Exports to China and Hong Kong continued to accelerate, while shipments to the United States rebounded strongly in June. In contrast, exports to the EU, Japan, and the Middle East remained sluggish or recorded slight declines.
(vasep.com.vn) Tilapia is playing an increasingly important role in Vietnam’s aquaculture sector, driven not only by growing market opportunities but also by its ability to meet increasingly stringent requirements on quality, food safety, and traceability. In practice, tilapia farming in Vietnam is not a spontaneous or loosely regulated activity; rather, it operates under a comprehensive legal and technical framework covering the entire value chain—from hatcheries and farming to processing and exports.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s shrimp exports reached USD 1.9 billion in the first five months of 2026, up 12% compared with the same period last year. Amid continued volatility in the global seafood market, this result demonstrates that the shrimp sector has maintained positive growth momentum, supported by improving demand in several Asian markets, particularly China.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On June 16, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ca Mau Province announced that the locality has established a farming area code for nearly 30,400 hectares of mud crab aquaculture and granted export facility codes to five enterprises eligible to export mud crab officially to markets such as China, Cambodia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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