Overview of catfish farming operations in the United States

1. Specialty Animal: Catfish AGR100 David Taylor

3. Arkansas - first state to produce farm-raised catfish on a commercial level - 1963

4. Leading commercial catfish producing states: Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana.David Taylor Agri 100

6. The commercial industry developed in the southern United States within the original range of the species.

7. At least 90 percent of the farmed fish are produced in the Mississippi River Valley region.David Taylor Agri 100

9. Some producers sell live or dressed catfish through local outlets.

10. Many growers stock their ponds for commercial recreational fishing

11. Others sell their catfish to live-fish haulers who deliver primarily to recreational fishing lakesDavid Taylor Agri 100

13. Channel catfish were native primarily to the Mississippi River Valley but were widely introduced throughout the nation by the Commission.

14. The ancestry of channel catfish farm-stocks is still unknown, but the majority of them are believed to have originated from Oklahoma stocks around 1949. David Taylor Agri 100

16. Pond spawning was first observed in 1914

17. Spawning nests were first used in 1916

18. Indoor hatching of channel catfish eggs was first accomplished in 1929

19. Commercial aquaculture was first considered to be economically practical in the late 1950s

20. Catfish farming developed rapidly during the 1960s and 1970simprovements in pond management disease identification and control and prepared feeds were developed and adopted by farmers David Taylor Agri 100 Aerial view of a catfish farm

22. Lack of scales

29. The daily feed ration for fingerling and broodfish catfish should be divided into two or more feedings per day.

30. In general, fingerlings are fed between 2 and 5 percent of their body weight per day, and broodfish, 1 to 2% of their weight. David Taylor Agri 100 Feed me!! Me too! I hate crowds Catfishatfeeding time

35. Rectangular-shaped ponds, averaging 10 to 20 acres each, are built above ground by constructing levees with depths of 4 to 6 feet

36. Also raised in watershed ponds, and in high-density culture systems that make use of tanks, raceways, and cages

37. Raising channel catfish mixed with other species of fish (polyculture) is also practiced

38. Catfish require a warm water environment for good growth. Optimum temperature for growth is 85°FDavid Taylor Agri 100 Catfish ponds

40. Ponds are partially harvested every several weeks to a few months and marketable fish (about 18 months old and averaging 1 to 1.5 pounds)are removed.

41. Catfish ponds are partially harvested using seines (large weighted nets) of sufficiently large mesh size to allow sub-marketable fish to escape

42. Fish are transported to the processing points using live-haul trucks with clean, fresh water.

43. The appropriate number of fingerlings is then stocked to replace the fish removed.

44. Thus, various fish sizes are in the pond at the same time.

45. The process can be maintained for several years, during which time the ponds are not drainedDavid Taylor Agri 100 Catfish harvesting

46. Catfish Production Cycle David Taylor Agri 100

48. Channel catfish are subjected to a wide variety of diseases including viruses, bacteria, fungi, helminths (parasitic worms), and parasitic copepods.

49. Prevention through avoidance of stress on the fish is probably the most effective means of avoiding disease

50. Chemicals are only used when an epizootic has been detected, and then only for limited periods of time

51. Preventive or protective chemical use is not approved by the United States Food and Drug AdministrationDavid Taylor Agri 100 Parasitic Copepod