In an op-ed late last week, McCain said that for three weeks he and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) had asked for a vote on their amendment to scrap the “absurd Catfish Office,” which has yet to inspect any catfish, but “despite repeated requests” the chair and ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), blocked a vote.
Southern state lawmakers succeeded in getting a provision in the 2008 farm bill to move catfish from under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to USDA to help protect domestic catfish farmers from the flood of cheap foreign imports, but the move has been bogged down in the details and politics. Despite having already spent about $20 million on the initiative, USDA has not yet implemented catfish inspection, five years later.
A spokesman for FSIS told Food Safety News that the agency currently has a “core staff” of four people working on “further policy development in anticipation of potential implementation of the catfish inspection program,” but since developing a proposed rule in 2011 the Office of Catfish Inspection has been folded into other program areas.
The Government Accountability Office has repeatedly called the program a waste of taxpayer dollars because it is “duplicative” and because it would focus on Salmonella, which is not an issue with catfish, and not illegal drug residues, which could be a real concern.
“They want you to think Americans have been eating unsafe foreign catfish (it's just catfish, of course) even though the FDA, the CDC, and the USDA itself say that's untrue. Out of the 1.8 billion catfish enjoyed by Americans each year, only two illnesses are reported on average,” wrote McCain for Politico last week.
“I obviously support maintaining a safe food supply,” added McCain. “But seafood inspections already fall under FDA's jurisdiction, which requires foreign catfish farms to follow the same food-safety standards as domestic farms. Unless catfish have suddenly sprouted legs, USDA should stick to meat, poultry and egg inspections.”
FDA has also been called out by GAO for having inadequate oversight over imported seafood in general — an increasingly critical issue as nearly 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is now imported.
The Senate had voted for an amendment to scrap the program last summer, the last time it considered a version of the farm bill, but no such vote was held this time around. The House Agriculture Committee recently voted to repeal the inspection scheme, but it is not clear whether the language will make it into law.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The Quang Tri Department of Agriculture and Environment has instructed localities to base their stocking schedules on actual conditions in each farming area, while developing plans, allocating resources, and implementing synchronized measures for disease prevention and disaster risk management in aquaculture production.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In the first two months of 2026, Vietnam’s exports of fish cakes and surimi exceeded USD 45 million, up 7% compared to the same period in 2025, indicating a positive outlook for this product segment amid recovering demand in many markets.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) During the week from April 4th to 10th, 2026, Quang Ngai province intensified its monitoring and law enforcement activities with the determination to eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Thanh Hoa’s shrimp sector is undergoing a strong transformation by accelerating the adoption of high technology, helping to improve productivity, increase profits, and meet market demands. The province currently has about 4,100 hectares of shrimp farming, with output continuing to rise despite stable farming area, mainly due to the shift from traditional methods to intensive and super-intensive farming.
(vasep.com.vn) Amid ongoing volatility in global seafood trade, Vietnam’s crab exports have made a fairly positive start to 2026. According to Vietnam Customs statistics, export turnover in the first two months of 2026 reached nearly USD 55 million, up 24% compared to the same period in 2025 and more than 2.2 times higher than in the same period of 2024. This indicates that crab exports are entering 2026 with stronger growth momentum, particularly in Asian markets.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Da Nang City has fully implemented all recommendations from the European Commission (EC) regarding the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, creating an important foundation for the removal of the “yellow card” in the near future.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Hoa Vang district (Da Nang City), red tilapia farming is demonstrating clear economic efficiency, becoming a promising livelihood that helps many households increase their income. A notable example is the model of Mr. Huynh Ngoc Nam, who operates two red tilapia ponds covering more than 4 hectares, generating stable annual income.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In Gia Vien district, tilapia farming—particularly the “duong nghiep” strain—is expanding rapidly and gradually becoming an efficient production model for local farmers. Hatcheries in the area are supplying high-quality, uniform, and disease-free fingerlings, meeting the growing demand for commercial farming.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On the afternoon of March 19, Vice Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee, Le Van Su, chaired a meeting to address bottlenecks and propose solutions to expand the super-intensive whiteleg shrimp farming model using low water exchange and high biosecurity standards (RAS-IMTA).
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On March 10, 2026, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued Decision No. 1377/QD-UBND approving the Aquatic Animal Disease Prevention and Control Plan for the 2026–2030 period. The decision takes effect from the date of signing and replaces previous plans for the 2021–2030 period that had been issued prior to the administrative merger in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Binh Duong, and Ho Chi Minh City.
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