The Maryland state government, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture, will provide $1.9 million for the purchase of wild-caught blue catfish.
The funds are expected to supply 283,000 pounds of fish fillets to local food banks, according to a state press release. Together with improving food security and supporting fishermen and seafood processors, the initiative will help manage an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay.
Native to the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Rio Grande river basins, blue catfish were introduced to the Chesapeake decades ago, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…