Artur Davis & Ron Sparks Work to Support Alabama's Catfish Industry

by: countrycat

Tue May 05, 2009 at 14:51:41 PM CDT

It's good to see our two announced gubernatorial candidates are in accord on the catfish issue.

Four years ago, Alabama Agriculture Commissioner, Ron Sparks, made headlines on a subject that's still a big issue, as this 2007 report from North Carolina shows:

Two years ago Alabama's Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks tested Vietnamese catfish and found traces of the cancer-causing dye plus antibiotics banned by the FDA, and barred the tainted fish from the state. Just last month the Vietnamese fish again tested positive for a type of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones which also have been banned by the FDA in the food supply.

“It’s very simple,” said Commissioner Sparks. “As long as they continue to use those wide-spectrum antibiotics and we catch it, we're going to ban it, we're going to turn it around and we're going to ship it back to them.”

While Sparks was busy at the state level, Congressman Davis was also working the issue in DC.  From a press release his office issued today:

Davis helped to persuade the U.S. Department of Commerce to institute the original antidumping order in 2003 as the Vietnamese flooded the market with imported basa and tra fillets at prices 44 to 64% below fair value, threatening collapse the domestic catfish industry.  The International Trade Commission will convene a Sunset Review hearing tomorrow to evaluate that order.

And now, Congressman Davis:

called upon the U.S. International Trade Commission to continue its antidumping duty order on Vietnamese imports.  In a letter circulated by Davis, southern Members from both political parties urge the USTR to “recognize the tremendous importance of the farm-raised catfish industry to each of our states, and the crippling effect that revocation of the antidumping duty order would have on the thousands of jobs that the industry supports.”

It may seem like a silly issue... catfish?  Who cares?

ahem... Alabama farmers!  Read on to find out how important catfish are to the Alabama economy.

FDA catches up with Alabama on imported seafood

by: mooncat

Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 18:37:01 PM CDT

I got this news release from ALFA today:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced a broader import control of all farm-raised catfish, basa, shrimp, dace (related to carp), and eel from China. FDA will start to detain these products at the border until the shipments are proven to be free of residues from drugs that are not approved in the United States for use in farm-raised aquatic animals.

Ron Sparks, Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture, issued a stop sale order for Chinese catfish  on April 25th of this year because samples contained flouroquinolones, a banned antibiotic.  Sparks issued a stop sale on farm raised seafood from Vietnam as early as 2005, also because of contamination.

Alabama was over two months ahead of the federal government on this issue.  The Alabama Agriculture and Industries Commission is paying attention, testing food that comes into the state and taking action when they find a problem.  That's the kind of performance citizens expect and deserve from public servants.

Artur Davis Also Cares About Catfish.

by: mooncat

Tue May 15, 2007 at 13:06:17 PM CDT

Just to muddy the waters, last week the medical director of the Mississippi Poison Control Center said that the antibiotic found in the catfish does not pose a health risk unless you eat a lot of catfish.  Like, 220,000 pounds.  That's even more than the fish lovers in my family eat.

All this catfish concern is interesting because at one time Artur Davis was thinking of challenging Sessions in 2008 and recent buzz is that Ron Sparks is considering a run against Sessions.  If either Sparks or Davis decides to run, the catfish producers of Alabama will be in a real quandary over who to back.  They all care about catfish.

Ron Sparks is Taking Care of Catfish, and Alabama Too.

by: mooncat

Thu Apr 26, 2007 at 23:11:00 PM CDT

Second, folks in the south like catfish. I can't find statistics on the amount of catfish consumed, so I am reduced to anecdote.  My brother-in-law and my cousin are more than happy to eat catfish three meals a day as long as they can get it.  Alabama is the second largest catfish producer in the US, behind Mississippi and raising catfish is a multi-million dollar business here.  Someone must like it.

Those two points came together on Wednesday, when I read that Alabama Agriculture & Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks had announced a ban on catfish imported from China.  A banned antibiotic, fluoroquinolones, had turned up in several of the tested fish.  You can click on this link to read the whole story, but the short version is that somebody in Alabama is testing imported catfish.  And when they found something that shouldn't be there, Sparks stopped the importation of fish from those sources. 

In other words, Commissioner Sparks and the people who work for him appear to be taking their jobs seriously, making sure the food supply is safe, and if it isn't, making sure it doesn't get to the dinner table.  Competent government action that not only protects Alabama catfish lovers, it safeguards an industry that generates jobs and income in the state.  How refreshing!

Maybe we should start feeding Alabama catfish to our cats.  At least catfish gets inspected.