Casinos settle catfish war

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - MGM Mirage and Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino companies, will sign a multimillion dollar agreement to buy farmed-raised domestic catfish for their Mississippi casino restaurants.
   
The agreement comes nearly a month after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would buy up to $5 million worth of domestic catfish for school lunches and other programs amid a war between the nation’s catfish producers and Asian imports.
   
The contract signing was scheduled for Wednesday at the Catfish Farmers of America headquarters in Indianola.
   
MGM Mirage owns and operates two Mississippi casinos - the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and the Gold Strike in Tunica. Harrah’s has four, including three in Tunica County.
   
The casinos will purchase catfish from Mississippi growers and processors.