Chinese catfish imports doubled during the first eight months of 2006 compared to the same period last year, rising to 3.5 million pounds of frozen catfish fillets as of August 2006 from 1.8 million pounds imported from January to August 2005.

These days, it's Chinese catfish that's flooding the market. The fish are American-indigenous channel catfish that were taken from Arkansas, bred in China and are now being sold back to the United States at prices cheaper than can be produced at home.

The Chinese competitive edge is based on low labor costs and the average Chinese catfish aquaculture workers earning about 30-cents per hour. Chinese catfish can be bought for as little as 50 cents per pound, far below 85 cents per pound American market price.

Despite problems with Chinese catfish, more and more are coming into the U.S. Industry observers estimate as many as 200 million pounds of Chinese catfish, equaling one third of catfish produced in the U.S., may now be in production and ready for export.

Source:佚名