Senators Britt & Tuberville Asking Feds to Help Catfish Farmers

Catfish farming is a major economic force in West Alabama. It is the leading argricultural product in the region with the bulk of its operations located in Hale, Dallas, Greene and Perry counties. It's size and scope makes Alabama the nation's second-largest producer of farm-raised catfish in the nation at $112.6 million annually. Hale County alone accounts for more than a third of Alabama's catfish sales.

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However, Alabama catfish farmers are being hurt by higher production costs and undercut by foreign imports, especially those from Vietnam. The Southeast Asian catfish industry is bolstered by lower prices due to low labor cost and government subsidies. They can produce, harvest, ship and sell their catfish cheaper than the farmers in Alabama and that is forcing West Alabama catfish farmers to cut back their operations.

Even with tariffs and anti-dumping laws, the foreign importers can still sell cheaper. And then there is the biological and biosecurity concern that goes with the imports.

The problems confronting West Alabam's catfish farmer have promoted a concerted effort to seek assitance from the federal government. Some members of the U.S. Senate, including Alabama's Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville have been listening.

Britt and Tuberville, along with three other members of the upper chamber have written a letter to United States  Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. They are asking Rollins to purchase surplus catfish products through the USDA  Agriculture Marketing Service Section 32 Program. Surplus purchases, they say, will assist catfish farmers and the thousands of jobs dependent upon this industry in Alabama and throughout the Southeast.

The letter  directly addresses the problem,"Together, these cost pressures have pushed the U.S. farm-raised catfish industry into a crisis of economic sustainability, with the cost of production far surpassing the price of fish at the dock — resulting in three consecutive years of negative margins for producers."

There has been no response from the agriculture department as of this afternoon.