After years of pushing fishermen to sell it, restaurants to serve it and Marylanders to eat it, lawmakers have finally found the least discerning customer when it comes to fixing the Chesapeake Bay’s overgrowth of blue catfish.

Your pet.

The MAWS Act, or Mitigation Action and Watermen Support Act, is a bill on Capitol Hill that aims to create a market for turning blue catfish into pet food. Which means lawmakers have taken the classic dad approach of telling you to slip the food you don’t want under the table.

While your dog’s mouth may sound like a strange place to put the fish that you were told last year belongs at the center of your Thanksgiving table, pet food makers are already on board.

Long called a threat to the Chesapeake Bay, the invasive blue catfish that is known to snack on native species is developing a new reputation as a “high-quality ingredient” for The Pet Food Institute, which endorsed the legislation on behalf of U.S pet food makers in a newsletter.

Other fans of the initiative include the American Feed Industry Association, which called the fish “wholesome and nutritious,” and CITIZENS Pet Products, whose CEO said the bill gives pet food companies an opportunity to address environmental challenges, according to the newsletter.

If passed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will distribute $2 million each year, provided by Congress, between the climate-minded renegades willing to jump on the trend. The pet food makers can then use the money to help with purchasing and creating new products. A two-year pilot program will also collect data on the fish as well as their impacts on the Chesapeake Bay and report it to Congress.

In Maryland, curtailing the growth of blue catfish is somewhat of a pastime. The state has allocated millions of dollars to expanding blue catfish fisheries like Tilghman Island Seafood. Fishermen can make $30 by nabbing the invasive species and Maryland tournaments award thousands of dollars for the biggest catch. Contests threw money at chefs willing to create the perfect recipe or add it their menus. Reubens, burgers, mac and cheese — nothing was safe from the catfish invasion.

U.S Rep. Sarah Elfreth, a Democrat representing Maryland’s District 3, introduced the new plan of attack on July 7. The fish “pose a direct ecological and economical threat to our Bay” and the proposed bipartisan MAWS Act would “address the damage inflicted by blue catfish, while also strengthening our local seafood economy and providing a new source of protein to pets nationwide,” she said, according to a press release. The grants for food makers under the bill would help build systems to transport, manufacture and process the fish for a long-term market.

Legislators hope the bill will remove millions of pounds of blue catfish from Chesapeake waterways, the release said. As researchers work to improve water quality and aquatic habitats, it’s unclear whose dinner plates will be encroached upon next. But something tells us Fido won’t mind.