Juan L. Silva (jls@ra.msstate.edu)
Tue, 01 Feb 2000 21:39:44 -0600
Dear Andrew,
I agrre with you to a point. However, we have to be true to consumers and
sometimes it takes time and effort. Look at irradiation and now GMOs
(genetically modified organisms). These are proven, maybe the later needs more
work, technologies/tools but have taken and keep taking money and education to
get consumers to acknowledge the benefits.
I am of the opinion that the consumer needs to be told the truth and then
educated if there are problems. There are two advantages to catfish
(farm-raised): seafood (wild caught) is dwindling and farm-raised catfish is
gaining popularity. Now your neighbor may trell you he/she tried this !!!! in a
restaurant in California and it was nothing like he/she thought- it was
delicious and tasty! It is fresh and can be harvested and placed on the table
year-round fresh! It is nothing like catfish!
Just some thoughts.
Juan
Andrew Strak wrote:
> Dear Juan,
>
> But why to spend millions of dollars to convince people to eat something
> that it is abominable to them because of its name in the first place? Would
> not be much easier just to change the common or market name to match
> consumer preferences? We can call a new model of car and so many other
> products by the names of choice. Unfortunatelly, in this area of natural
> goods out choices are very limited and very often to the detriment of the
> consumer and product itself. I suspect, that the reason the catfish is not
> so popular in Canada is due to its very name. Nobody here wants to eat
> cat-fish, dog-fish or rat-fish for the obvious reason of very unpleasant
> mental associations. Should not suffice to label the product by its
> taxonomic name for proper species identification while leaving the market
> name selection to the producer? The current common and market names are
> sometimes confusing enough while grouping various species in some instances
> and singling them out in the others. And besides, what's really unique and
> most important for a proper species identification is its taxonomic name
> that at present is not mandatory label requirement anyway.
>
> Andrew Strak
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Juan L. Silva <jls@ra.msstate.edu>
> To: <info@thecatfish.com>
> Cc: <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 11:30 AM
> Subject: Re: Catfish under another name?
>
> > Dear Juergen,
> > This problem happened here years ago, and through campaigning and
> education
> > people learned that farm-raised, grain fed catfish was a product of very
> high
> > quality and had much different taste and sensory profile than wild-caught
> > catfish. Another problem is that federal laws mandate that the food
> product be
> > identified with its proper name/common name.
> > I suggest campaigning/marketing (our Catfish Institute has done some in
> > Europe) and educatinfg the consumer (chefs, buyers, consumers) to
> distinguish
> > the farm-raised catfish from the common catfish. Bring out its advantages:
> > sweet, mild flavor that can be marinated/prepared to please any taste,
> good
> > nutritional quality, and excellent appearance.
> >
> > Juan L. Silva
> > Professor and Researcher and extension Specialist
> > Mississippi State University
> >
> > "Juergen R. Ahlmann" wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Listers,
> > >
> > > Catfish is an excellent fish. We all know that but, there is still the =
> > > derogatory connotation. Does anybody know of other names for catfish =
> > > that sound perhaps a bit more inviting to the majority of the people out
> =
> > > there? We are particularly interested in finding another name for =
> > > catfish for England and Germany. In Germany, the catfish is generally =
> > > known as "Wels". As an example: in England, "shark" for fish & chips is
> =
> > > referred to as "huss" and "rock salmon" has absolutely nothing to do =
> > > with salmon. In Germany, "Schillerlocken" have nothing to do with Mr. =
> > > Schiller's locks, a verbatim translation. Is it possible to introduce =
> > > the catfish under a completely different name? Existing or made up? =20
> > >
> > > Juergen R. Ahlmann
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________________
> > > Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite
> > > Visit http://freeworld.excite.com
> >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Tue Feb 01 2000 - 18:38:54 PST