US lawmakers propose transferring blue catfish inspections back to the FDA

Recently introduced legislation meant to improve conservation in the Chesapeake Bay region of the United States would also reduce inspection requirements for blue catfish, making it easier to operate a commercial fishery. “The bill would also enable more watermen to improve their bottom line by harvesting invasive blue catfish,” Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Federal Director Keisha Sedlacek said in a statement. “This would help protect native Bay species and the seafood industry from this voracious predator while supporting the region’s economy.”

The issue stems back to 2008, when federal lawmakers added a provision to the Farm Bill transferring responsibility for inspecting blue catfish from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Catfish remains the only fish covered by USDA; all other fish inspections are carried out by the FDA.

Under USDA’s oversight, all catfish must be examined by in-person inspectors, a more stringent requirement than other commercial fisheries must contend with. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal watchdog, reported that the USDA catfish inspection program costs the government USD 14 million (EUR 13 million) per year. In contrast, the prior FDA program operated on roughly USD 700,000 (EUR 648,411) per year.

Opponents of the rule have called it protectionist, arguing that domestic catfish producers behind the 2008 legislation simply wanted to implement the more onerous regulations to discourage catfish imports from Vietnam. However, Vietnamese catfish imports have continued to pour into the U.S. – in 2024, 247 million pounds of catfish were exported from Vietnam to the U.S. At the same time, the in-person inspection requirement has made it difficult for U.S. catfish producers in the Chesapeake Bay area to set up commercial operations, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Initially introduced to the region as a recreational fish in the 1960s, invasive blue catfish have come to dominate Chesapeake Bay ecosystems and drive out other species. “We are beginning to see disturbing trends in both our commercial fishery landings and our survey data,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore explained in 2023. “Since 2012, landings of seven of Maryland’s marquee commercial fishery species which share habitat with invasive fishes at some point in their life cycle have declined between 27 percent and 91 percent.”

Lawmakers in Virginia and Maryland have pushed to encourage harvesting and consumption of the species as a way of minimizing their impact on the ecosystem, with the added benefit of creating a new commercial fishery.

Versions of the Chesapeake Bay Conservation Acceleration Act have been introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate.