Two Mississippi congressmen have proposed legislation to protect the state's $292 million catfish industry from foreign competition, but local growers say the bill would be only a first step.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson said he and Rep. Ronnie Shows, both Democrats, have authored a bill that would require country-of-origin labels on retail catfish sold to consumers. The two representatives are in the process of finding co-sponsors for the bill and expect to introduce it during the 2001 session, Thompson said.
He said imported catfish, especially from Vietnam, are taking away market share from American catfish farmers because the imported fish are being marketed to look like American farm-raised fish.
"There is a problem with Vietnamese mislabeling," Thompson said. "What we want right now is for the labeling to be correct. What we want for any product is for people to know where it's coming from."
Thompsons said this bill addresses only catfish sold directly to consumers, but future legislation concerning labeling in the food service industry is a possibility.
John Nelms, vice president of sales and marketing for Itta Bena-based America's Catch, said labeling for retail catfish only partially addresses the issue. He said imported Vietnamese catfish have affected the entire industry but have made an especially large impact on sales to the food service industry.
"Unless they implement menu laws so the actual patron knows what he is getting, this is going to continue," Nelms said.
Nelms said the increase in imported catfish has reduced the market price and taken away market share from U.S. farmers.
Clayton "Sporty" Cordell, vice president of South Fresh Farms in Indianola, said rising imports have driven prices down significantly in the past year, and he believes the trend will continue.
South Fresh conducts most of its business in the food service industry, Cordell said. He predicted that new labeling laws would not help catfish sales in that portion of the industry.
"It's not going to make any difference," Cordell said. "I think they are just fooling themselves."
Hugh Warren, executive vice president of the Catfish Institute in Indianola, said Mississippi's catfish industry, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the country's catfish production, is split almost evenly between sales to the grocery and food service industries.
He said new policies under discussion would only apply to consumer purchases, but other laws already exist to govern the food service industry.
"They already know the country of origin," Warren said. "Under customs they are required to maintain the country of origin until it breaks down to the last container."
Warren said the proposed legislation would help make consumers aware of the difference between domestically grown catfish and competing imports from Vietnam.
He said the Vietnamese catfish are considerably cheaper because they are not from the same biological family as American catfish and Vietnamese growers are not subject to the same regulations as U.S. growers.
Vietnamese catfish advertised as "farm-raised" often are grown in bamboo cages under fishermen's homes in the Mekong River Delta, Warren said. In contrast, Mississippi catfish farms are regularly inspected by several federal regulatory agencies to ensure water quality and overall product quality.
Warren said these differences have created a financial incentive for purchasers to choose Vietnamese catfish, even though they may be a lower-quality product.
