Frozen Dory Fish

Basa ( Pangasius bocourti ) is a species of catfish in the family Pangasiidae. Basa are native to the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins in Mainland Southeast Asia.  It is known as Cá ba sa (basa fish), cá giáo (spear fish), or cá sát bụng (belly fish) in local Vietnamese. 
 
As an important food fish internationally, it is known as basa fish, swai, or bocourti in North America and Australia; cobbler, river cobbler, basa, panga, or pangasius in the UK; panga or pangasius in the rest of Europe; and Pacific dory, or dory in Asian markets.
 
However, it is not to be mistaken as dory fish, a high value seafood.  Dory fish is of the genus Zeus, especially Zeus faber, although it has similar flesh colour.

 
Basa fish aquaculture first started in the 1940s in Vietnam, and since then Vietnam become the major basa fish producer and exporter.  However due to its low production cost and huge production, which threatened US catfish market, the Catfish Farmers of America started a ‘catfish war’ against imported catfish, including basa fish.  Besides banning the use of word ‘catfish’ on non-American species, attacks had been target on environmental issues, production quality and safety, nutritional value, heavy metal & chemical contamination and even inferior taste of basal fish.