National Catfish Day Celebrates Food, Not Fish

On this day in 1987, President Reagan proclaimed that we should celebrate “the value of farm-raised catfish.” He called them a “uniquely American food delicacy.”

I have to admit, I had no idea that we were celebrating fish farms over twenty-five years ago. After all, we’re just now seeing farmed fish production overtake beef production for the first time in world history. It’s a scary thought; billions of aquatic animals, raised in the same way that farmed animals have been for so long.

I take issue with the fact that National Catfish Day does not honor the catfish as a sentient being, just as I take issue with Turkey Lover’s Month doing the same with turkeys. Do a Google search for Catfish and – after scrolling through the hits that refer to the documentary and MTV show of the same name – you’ll find site after site discussing fishing, cooking, or aquariums. Hell, Google turns up the nutritional profile as it would with other things that humans deem as food.

Even the facts about catfish that Animal Planet has compiled are not immune to mentioning their “excellent flavor” and the fact that the oceanic variety are edible.

Every day, animals of all kinds are seen as mere commodities; as product. It’s up to us to change that. Just because a president proclaims a national day of celebration for a “food animal” does not mean we can’t celebrate that same animal as something more. Educate yourself. Educate others. Stop and think about the fact that life on this planet has its own interests in mind.

And maybe write to the folks at Google and ask them to check their algorithms. There has got to be one page that doesn’t talk about batter-fried animals in its “catfish” search results.

Photo credit: Klaus Stiefel via Flickr