On Tuesday, Congressman Barry Moore introduced the Bringing Aquaculture Indemnities to Speed (BAITS) Act. This legislation would help farm-raised fish producers who suffer considerable loss without triggering a disaster payment have options to recoup some of their assets. Moore believes this legislation will help grow America’s aquaculture sector.
“Farm-raised fish operations put affordable, healthy protein options on the table in the state of Alabama and across America,” said Moore. “Providing these operations with more risk management options will help current producers thrive, but also encourage industry growth by enticing more producers to get involved in aquaculture.”
The BAITS Act would allow fish farmers to protect themselves and their operations from unavoidable loss. Farm-raised fish producers suffer considerable death loss without triggering a disaster payment and should have options to recoup their assets without experiencing total, disastrous loss.
Farm-raised producers cite uninsured death loss via avian depredation as a significant driver of profit and stock loss. As U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programming exists now, farm-raised fish producers do not have sufficient programmatic support to manage this risk.
Currently, the United States ranks eighth in the world for aquatic commodity production, most of which comes from the south.
Alabama is sixth in the nation in terms of the total value of aquaculture products sold. Alabama produces $99,000,000 a year in aquaculture products from just 120 farms with a combined 17,591 acres of water. Most of AlAlabama’sish and mollusk production is from freshwater farms.
Alabama trails only California, Virginia, Louisiana, Washington, and Mississippi. In Mississippi, the nation’s largest aquaculture producer, 176 fish farmers with a combined 39,561 acres of water produce $215,790,000 worth of aquaculture products for consumers.
Wild-caught fish is increasingly incapable of meeting the global demand for seafood. Thus, more and more of the seafood we consume comes from fish farmers – both freshwater and saltwater.
Aquaculture products include food fish, sport fish, baitfish, and ornamental fish, as well as mollusks, crustaceans, and other miscellaneous aquaculture products.
Most of AlAlabama’squaculture is in the form of catfish. In 2020, the U.S. farm-raised catfish industry produced 324 million pounds of catfish from 59,305 acres of water. Alabama produced 94 million pounds of catfish in 2020 from 16,146 acres of water, which represents 33 percent of all catfish produced in the United States. Still, total Alabama catfish production has steadily declined since peaking in 2004. This decline is due to several factors, including foreign competition, aging farmers, and rising grain prices, but risk management is a significant part of that equation.
MoMoore’segislation seeks to grow this industry and produce America-raised affordable protein for American consumers by providing U.S. farm-raised fish producers with the same risk management mechanisms mainstream commodities enjoy. Moore says that amendments to existing USDA programs are in order.
The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) is a USDA Farm Service Agency disaster assistance program designed to protect livestock producers from losses due to an eligible adverse weather event, disease, or attack in excess of normal mortality. The focus of this legislation revolves around the latter loss conditions: eligible disease and attack scenarios.
Eligible disease claims can be filed if livestock contracts a disease transmitted by vectors where vaccination or acceptable management practices are not available in excess of normal mortality rates.
Usually, migratory predatory birds, most of which are protected by federal law, are often responsible for these losses. Eligible attack claims can be filed if livestock is attacked in excess of normal mortality by animals reintroduced by the Federal government or federally protected. Avian predators are specifically included in this programming.
MoMoore’segislation would add farm-raised fish as an eligible species under LIP, giving fish farmers the ability to protect themselves against eligible loss conditions via disease transmission and avian depredation.
Moore is serving in his second term representing the people of Alabama’s Second Congressional District. Moore previously served from 2010 to 2018 in the Alabama House of Representatives. He and his family live in Enterprise.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
