A new bill in Congress is uniting Maryland Democrats and Virginia Republicans in a common Chesapeake Bay goal: to fight invasive blue catfish by finding new reasons for watermen to target them.
The Mitigation Action and Watermen Support (MAWS) Act would start a pilot program in the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office to establish a new market for the Bay’s overpopulated blue catfish. There is already an ongoing push across the Chesapeake region to encourage more restaurants to serve blue cat and more people to eat them. Now, the pilot program would also target the pet and animal food industry.
Under the MAWS Act, NOAA would offer grants to pet and animal food producers to incentivize watermen to catch them. The bill would also establish transportation, processing, and manufacturing structures to make it a long-term market. The two-year pilot program would allow NOAA to collect data on the program’s success in removing large amounts of blue cat from the water and generating an economic impact for watermen. NOAA would report back to Congress on lessons learned, the market response from animal food manufacturers, and possible other watersheds that could benefit from the same program.
The MAWS bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Elfreth and Steny Hoyer (both D-MD) and Rep. Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans (both R-VA). It’s supported by some of the nation’s largest pet food and animal feed suppliers.
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Pet food manufacturers call Chesapeake Bay blue catfish “a wholesome and nutritious ingredient” for pet food, and see the pilot program as being good for the planet. “The Pet Food Institute, whose members make the vast majority of dog and cat food and treats in the U.S., is proud to endorse the MAWS Act,” said Pet Food Institute president and CEO Dana Brooks.
You can read the bill here.
Dog and cat food? It's so crazy it might help. Certainly all our dogs were fond of fish.
The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Add More Ginger As Required up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.
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