Food source
Swai fillet as sold in the United States (top and bottom)
P. hypophthalmus is an important food fish and is farmed extensively in many parts of the world. It is one of the most important
aquaculture species in Thailand
[3] and Vietnam. Along with other farm-raised
shark catfishes, it has caused much debate within the U.S., with legislation passed recently to prevent its imports from cutting into American farmed catfish sales. Prohibited to be labelled as "catfish" in the U.S.,
P. hypophthalmus is now labelled as "swai" (its
Thai name[
citation needed]), "sutchi catfish", or "striped catfish". In Vietnam, this fish is known as "tra".
[4] In Mexico, Grupo Piscimex markets this fish with the registered trademark "Barbero," under the brand name "Pescados y Mariscos Sierra Madre." Other than indicating the Latin name of the species on the back and that it was farm raised in Vietnam, they make no mention of its more common names.
This fish is sometimes sold as the superior "
basa". Compared to the basa, this fish is thought to be inferior, as its meat is coarser and comes in thinner. Despite this, swai is still common as it is much cheaper to maintain, easier to breed, and is also a faster-growing species. It is said that 90% of fish sold as basa is actually swai.
[4]
