WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to include fish among the foods that must be inspected by the Agriculture Department.

“Currently, less than 12 percent of American seafood undergoes some kind of inspection — and these programs are designed more for grading product than for ensuring safety,” said Agriculture Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

The Leahy bill, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., was opposed by senators who believed inspection responsibilities belonged with the Food and Drug Administration and the Commerce Department.

Sens. Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski, both R-Alaska, argued that the Agriculture Department favored the red-meat industry and could hurt the seafood business.

He also argued that the chemistry involved in checking for contamination in fish already is part of FDA’s expertise and differs from the red-meat industry, which is inspected visually.

Leahy said his plan for fish doesn’t use visual inspection.

“Instead, the Fish Safety Act is based on the highly praised USDA National Residue Program in which USDA samples hundreds of thousands of meat products, testing them for 200 or so harmful chemical compounds and other substances,” he said.