The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers, or SPUR, Guaranteed Loan Program includes seafood processing. U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Seafood Director Michael Illenberg explains the need for this inclusion.
“The strengthening of seafood exports, there are a lot of opportunities for our fisheries and our aquaculture producers to export seafood to other countries to help ensure food security within those nations and to help our American fishermen and aquaculture producers prosper,” said Illenberg.
“Part of that will be looking at how we can promote our American seafood, both here at home in domestic markets and abroad, through voluntary U.S. caught labeling that the FDA is managing, also through a marketing campaign led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. We’ll also leverage existing promotion authorities and prioritize American seafood in our food and nutrition procurement programs here at USDA,” added Illenberg.
Audio Reporting by Elizabeth Sanders for Southeast AgNet.