In this Aug. 24, 2009, file a catfish feeds near the surface of a pond at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's Aquaculture-Fisheries Center in Pine Bluff, Ark.
U.S. catfish farmers thought they had pulled off a coup when they persuaded Congress a few years ago to require tougher federal inspections for the whiskered fish. It's not that they were clamoring for more oversight; the idea was that the new inspection system would be a roadblock to rival imports from Asia, which U.S. producers have long argued are unsafe. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)