Cassidy, Wicker, Colleagues Introduce Resolution to Designate August as National Catfish Month

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Kennedy (R-LA), Katie Britt (R-AL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Boozman (R-AR), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), introduced a Senate resolution to designate August 2023 as National Catfish Month.

The resolution recognizes the importance of U.S. catfish to our economy and praises catfish farmers and workers for their contributions to the industry...

ANALYSIS: Catfish, Pangasius, and Tilapia Markets Soften into Summer 

Imported aquaculture species including catfish and tilapia from China, as well as pangasius/swai from Vietnam have experienced some price softening due to an overabundance of supply relative to current demand trends. While catfish and pangasius markets have seen a gradual retreat over the past few weeks across all sizes, tilapia remained mostly steady until recently where smaller sized fillets were the first to report discounts...

USDA Shares Purchase Awards for Pollock, Catfish Products

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced purchase awards for catfish products and pollock products.

From the pollock side, the USDA bought just over $1.6 million of frozen Alaska pollock products. In total, 543,200 pounds of pollock was purchased.

Channel Fish Processing landed $817,191.43 from the USDA for frozen pollock sticks. Meanwhile, Trident Seafoods received $785,268 for frozen pollock in 49.5 lb. bulk containers.

Find the pollock purchase award description from the USDA here...

USDA Looking to Purchase 470,000 Pounds of Catfish Products

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it was looking to buy 470,000 pounds of catfish products for use in domestic food distribution programs. Bids to sell catfish products are due by May 15.

Acceptances will be announced by 5 p.m. CT on May 22 and deliveries will be made between July 1 and December 30, 2023.

The solicitation was a 100% Small Business Set Aside for both unbreaded raw catfish fillets and breaded oven ready catfish strips...

Heartland Catfish Moves to Eliminate Additive; Move Set to Boost Consumer Accessibility

U.S. catfish farmer Heartland Catfish announced it will transition to phosphate-free solutions in a move that will reduce environmental impacts and increase the consumer accessibility of Heartland Catfish products.

The vertically integrated farmer said its frozen products including its frozen fillets and frozen nuggets are injected before freezing with a solution that improves water retention and longevity.

In the past, the company used a solution that included water, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, ascorbic acid and citric acid...