Catfish imports double from year-ago period

Foreign competition in the catfish market continues. Importation of freshwater processed fish almost doubled in January compared to the year-ago total, the USDA reported. Frozen, boneless poundage of Ictalurus, Pangasius and Siluriformes catfish fillets for January 2006 totaled 2.64 million pounds. Just over half of that was from Vietnam, with the remainder coming from China, Malaysia and Thailand. The Ictalurus (channel catfish) imports totaled 415 thousand pounds. U.S. farm-raised catfish processed during February 2006 totaled 49.1 million pounds round weight, down 5% from February 2005. Average price paid to producers was 72.9 cents per pound for February 2006, up 0.3 cent from last month but 0.2 cent below a year ago.