Alabama catfish farmer SouthFresh Aquaculture, a subsidiary of Alabama Farmers Cooperative, has been authorized by a US bankruptcy court in Alabama to pay $1.09 million (€953,000) in "critical vendor claims."

The company, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, was "authorized to issue post-petition checks, or to effect post-petition fund transfer requests, in replacement of any checks or fund transfer requests that are dishonored" as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings, according to court documents filed Feb.