# Catfish, swai or pangasius ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catfish-swai-or-pangasius/406680>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 4, 2007, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catfish-swai-or-pangasius/406680 "2007-06-04T11:30:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catfish-swai-or-pangasius/406680/1 "2007-06-04T11:30:50Z")

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I read in Wikipedia that Pangasius is prohibited to be labeled “catfish” in the U.S.

Why?

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**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catfish-swai-or-pangasius/406680/2 "2007-06-04T15:15:37Z")

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[QUOTE=Gymnopithys]  
I read in Wikipedia that Pangasius is prohibited to be labeled “catfish” in the U.S.

Why?  
[/QUOTE]

Most likely due to commercial intrests. A lot of the smaller species are aquarium species, and some of the larger are used commercially.

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**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catfish-swai-or-pangasius/406680/3 "2007-06-04T19:09:13Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> “People think of catfish as American fish and naturally assume that is what they receive when they order it from menus,” Second District Rep. Bennie G. Thompson said in a statement. “It is an outrage that Americans who legitimately order catfish or farm-raised catfish in restaurants are unknowingly eating imported catfish”

There is a big brouhaha currently going on about the alleged ‘dumping’ of Asian fish on the U.S. market, with it being labeled ‘catfish’. Part of it has to do with cheap imported fish (undercutting prices) and part of it has to do with a kind of ‘copyright’ (if you will) on the name ‘catfish’.

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**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catfish-swai-or-pangasius/406680/4 "2007-06-05T16:12:15Z")

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Thank you both.