107 



All of this is certainly ironic in view of the fact that certain consumer 

 lobbying groups and regulatory agencies have used the media over the last 

 six years to continuously propagate misleading or false information regarding 

 the safety of domestic seafood, and especially shellfish. They also relentlessly 

 assert that our products are not properly inspected, or that our current inspection 

 is carried out by too many groups or agencies. Our members will certainly 

 concur with the latter, since we are, in fact, inspected by local and state 

 regulatory agencies, FDA, EPA and even USDC, if we pay them. 



Tl-iose special interest consumer lobby groups and agencies who maintain that 

 we are not sufficiently inspected, and who continue to malign our products 

 in the national press as unsafe, have gained tremendous financial and political 

 power. The press quotes them avidly without thought to researching the actual 

 scientific facts and data. The FDA has gained a whole new "Division of Seafood", 

 and a greatly increased budget and beaurocracy. This has all been accomplished 

 at the expense and near extinction of our very small, but traditional shellfish 

 industry that represents an important heritage in our coastal states. 



If you consider that of 1460 lbs. of food consumed per person per year, only 

 15.5 lbs. represents fish products and less than one tenth lbs. of this shellfish, 

 it is extremely hard to rationalize and justify the tremendous expense to 

 the taxpayer and our industry for these numerous seafood hearings and proposed 

 inspection systems. This is especially true when considering the actual scientific 

 data and facts regarding seafood safety. The recently published national 

 Academy of Science's "Seafood Safety Report" clearly states that "Most seafoods 

 are wholesome and unlikely to cause illness in the consumer". 



