Why is catfish concidered seafood?

Most menus list it as seafood as they do with Tilapia, not sure why they have been doing that for years.

Marketing, man, marketing! They convinced us that a Yugo was a car, too!

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it was laziness. They didn't want to have to make another section on the menu.

Kirk B.

Also including trout, fresh water mussels, and crayfish. In the UK, seafood is used more literally but everyone there is fairly close to the ocean. North America spans a whole continent much of which is not close to the ocean, so the term is used more broadly.

From Wikipedia --
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans. Seafood prominently includes fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Historically, sea mammals such as whales and dolphins have been consumed as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times. Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are widely eaten as seafood around the world, especially in Asia (see the category of sea vegetables). In North America, although not generally in the United Kingdom, the term "seafood" is extended to fresh water organisms eaten by humans, so all edible aquatic life may be referred to as seafood. For the sake of completeness, this article includes all edible aquatic life.

There are saltwater catfish like hardheads and gafftops so technically, there are catfish that are seafood

Ok, out of curiosity..... what should it be called?

How appetizing does Lakefood or Pondfood sound?

Fish

I would go with 'aquatic cuisine' to cover shellfish and muscles as well as any other food we consume from oceans rivers and lakes.

Just call it seafood. That is the common vernacular in this country and people know what you are talking about -- fish, crustaceans, mollusks.

not sure why it's called seafood, but now i'm hungry

I SEEfood

" In North America the term "seafood" is extended to fresh water organisms eaten by humans, so all edible aquatic life may be referred to as seafood."

Wiki... Seafood on Wiki