Mississippi Enacts Anti-Competitive Catfish Marketing Law

Reason Magazine ^ | July 6, 2013 | Baylen Linnikin

[Olog-hai]

The Mississippi (Catfish Marketing L)aw, which updates a 2008 law, requires every grocer and restaurant in the state to “provide the consumer with the country of origin and method of production of catfish” and, now, of other catfish-like fish.

While the 2008 law required groceries throughout the state to provide country-of-origin labeling for catfish alone, the new law expands the measure to include all catfish-like fish, which is mostly imported, at every “restaurant, cafeteria, lunch room, food stand, saloon, tavern, bar, lounge or other similar facility operated as an enterprise engaged in the business of selling food to the public.”

The law expands the state’s ability to require “any person that prepares, stores, handles or distributes catfish or fish for retail sale maintain a verifiable record-keeping audit trail.” …

[SuziQ]

Presumably, any restaurant, or retailer, in this day and age, has sufficient record-keeping already that adding the information from the distributor about the origin of the seafood sold will not create any problems for them. If not, then I’m not sure how they would keep up with their costs and income even without this requirement.

[WKB]

Mississippi png

[Exeter]

The trick is to look for the “pond-raised” label on the packaging. I’ve worked on catfish ponds in the Mississippi Delta, and I can tell you those fish are well taken care of. Protein-rich feed, water constantly monitored for freshness, temperature, oxygen content from the day they hatch till the day they’re harvested. The end product is a fish filet that has to be tasted to be believed.

I hope none of you Yankees reading this believe me. We Southerners prefer keeping this culinary treat for ourselves.

[SunkenCiv]

Domestic catfish farmers fought to keep Tilapia from being marketed as catfish.

[X-spurt]

No kidding......

[X-spurt]

Trying to receive answer to my continued question on what is your connection to importing bad Asian fish and trying to skirt truth in disclosure “country of origin” laws, is impossible.

Pretend I never replied to your pro-Chinese poop raised “catfish like” fish importer thread.

I really dislike calling someone a troll, but damn you just insist on proving to be one.

[trebb]

The required audit trail and the expanded state powers. Always a back door for government control when they claim to be protecting the consumer. Can you afford the paperwork?

Are they trying to protect the consumer, or are they trying to protect the Mississippi catfish businesses? It's a big business in Mississippi.

[LibLieSlayer]

I am a life-long Mississippian and I REFUSE to eat chicom shrimp, fish or anything else. You see... I was raised to understand communists and their religion. I know the evil of that fascist system and I try not to support it in any way... regardless of which country it resides in. I am in favor of this law and if you do not live in Mississippi... then why would you care? THAT IS... unless you are selling all of that bleach soaked (and whatever other poisonous chemical the chicoms need to rid themselves of... can’t taint all of their dog-food products or sheet rock board you know) seafood to walmart... THE chicom distribution center of America?

LLS

[LibLieSlayer]

I am sitting here right now thinking about the people from up North that come down here to one of the world class casinos operating here on the Coast and I see them eating their buffet or ala cart offerings and thinking that they are eating (as sometimes falsely advertised) GULF SHRIMP or local fish such as Red Fish, Red Snapper, Speckled Trout and Flounder... only to be eating some chicom raised mystery fish or enjoying their chemical soaked and irradiated shrimp and thinking that it all came from the serene waters that the window that they gaze out of while enjoying "local cuisine"... overlooks.

LLS