Accountability Office Takes Aim at Catfish Waste for the Third Time

WASHINGTON, DC June 7, 2012 A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report recommends, Congress should consider repealing provisions of the Farm Bill assigning USDA responsibility for catfish inspection.

Its the third time GAO has singled out the USDA Catfish Inspection program. In February of 2011 the government watchdog cited it as part of its report on programs that were at high risk for waste, fraud and abuse. Then in March of 2011 the agency called it duplicative as part of another report, this time on areas where the feds could reduce duplication of government programs.

The independent report, calling for repeal of the program, comes less than 24 hours after Senators John McCain and John Kerry launched a bipartisan effort to get rid of it, announcing that the pair would lead a group in filing an amendment to the Farm Bill that would end the program.

Senators McCain and Kerry will help create American jobs and reduce government waste by eliminating this duplication, said John Connelly, President of the National Fisheries Institute. The GAO report confirms what these Senators have been saying all along. This is a program that must be repealed.

For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.

Contact Information

Gavin Gibbons
(703) 752-8891
ggibbons@nfi.org