CHANNEL CATFISH CULTURE

Channel Catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus )

Native Range of Channel Catfish in the United States

Food Habits

Preferred Habitat

Rivers Reservoirs and lakes

Reproductive Live History

1. Sexual maturity is reached in 2 to 3 years in the

southeastern U. S.

2. Spawning takes place in a cavity formed by rocks, logs or

a hole in a lake or river bank.

3. Preferred spawning water temperatures: 21-29 C, with

optimal temperature 24 to 26 C.

Sexual behavior

1. Males defend a territory/cavity.

2. Female enters the cavity and

spawns.

3. Males incubate eggs and defend

fry.

4. Males can spawn with more than

one female a season.Spawning cavity

Catfish are grown in 4 to 10 ha earthen ponds with flat bottoms.

Filtered surface water or rainfall

Well water

Catfish ponds are filled with either:

Spawning in captivity: 1. Stock adults 3 to 8 years old 2. Stock 1 male to 2 females

3. Stock 800 kg of brooders/ha

female male

Spawning Containers

float

Ammo cansMilk cans

Wooden boxBoxes in spawning pond

Spawning occurs during May and June in the Southeastern U. S. Spawning cans are checked every 2 to 3 days for spawns.

Hatching Shed

Eggs are transported to a hatching shed.

Eggs are placed in 5-mm squarewire mesh baskets suspended in a paddlewheel incubator.

Eggs hatch in 5 to 6 days at watertemperatures of 24 to 26 °C.

Fry are fed powdered feed.

Screen bottom boxes Fiberglass trough

Fry are placed in screen boxes or troughs for 7 to 14 days before stocking in ponds.

Fry are stocked at 150,000 to 250,000/ha and grown for 5 months.

Fry are fed powdered, crumbled and pelleted feeds.

Fingerlings are stocked in fatteningponds during January to March. Stocking density is 15,000 to 20,000/ha.

Catfish feed is purchased by the bag or delivered in bulk and stored in silos.

corn wheat soybean

Floating pelletsFloating pellets aredistributed by a feedblower mounted on atruck.

Feed amount is controlled by an electronic scalelocated in the truck cab. Catfish are fed what they will eat up to a maximum of 120 kg/ha/day.

Dissolved oxygen concentration ischecked night and day to assurethat levels remain above 2 mg/l.

No water exchange is practiced because ponds are large and pumping water is costly.

Electric (fixed) and tractor (mobile) powered paddlewheels are used to increase D. O. levels.

Low D. O. can kill catfish within 1 or 2 hours.

Many diseases cause fish mortality.

Gas cannon to scare the birds

Shoo !

Birds consume many fish in some regions.

Catfish are removed from the pond with a seinestored on a hydraulic reel powered by a tractor.

Management systems used:1. Monoharvest

• All catfish are removed from the pond when they reach 0.5 to 1.0 kg, 6 to 12 months from stocking.

• Ponds are drained yearly.

2. Multi-harvest

• Only catfish larger than 0.5 kg are removed by partial seine harvest.

• Ponds are restocked yearly with small catfish. Large and small catfish are in the pond together.

• Ponds are partial harvested 2 to 3 times per year. Ponds are drained every 5 to 8 years.

Catfish are retained in a holding net overnight to eliminate small catfish. Fish are crowded for loading onto the transport truck. A crew of 5 can load 15,000 kg of fish in 1 hour.

scale

Catfish are weighed onto trucks taking the fish tothe processing factory. Each basket holds 900 kg of fish.

Fish are checked for off-flavor 2 weeks, 1 day and upon arrival at the processor. Off-flavor fish are not harvested.

scale

Catfish are weighed a second time upon arrival at the processor. Fish arrive alive.

Catfish are cleaned, filleted and frozen by the processor.

1. Whole - 20 % 2. Pieces and bellies - 20% 3. Fillets - 60 %

Preservation method as a percentage of total catfish processed: 1. iced - 20 %

2. frozen - 80 %

whole

steaks

Fillets andnuggets

strips

Processed forms as a percentage of total catfish processed:

The catfish industry maintains a qualitycontrol program to insure the consumera fresh and healthyproduct.

Mississippi accounts for 65 % of farmed catfish

Principle farming states are located inthe Southeastern U. S.. Mississippi (MS) Alabama (AL) and Arkansas (AR) produce 90 % of the farmed catfish.

4. Close to major grain farming regions - cheap fish

feeds

3. Abundant water and clay soils

2. Warm climate

1. Popular food fish - market

The channel catfish industry developed in theSoutheast because:

4,000 to 7,000 kg/ha/year

Pond yield

 YEAR LIVE WEIGHT AVG. PRICE*

PROCESSED, KG PER KG, $US.

------- --------------------- ----------------- 1970 2,609,545 0.751975 7,336,363 1.09 1980 21,120,000 1.50 1985 87,098,181 1.581990 163,636,360 1.691995 203,130,000 1.741999 271,194,000 1.632000 269,819,540 1.652001 271,141,272 1.432002 286,636,810 1.25

* Price to farmer for fish delivered to the processing plant

Channel Catfish Growth in Live Weight Processed and Average Price per Kilogram, 1970 - 2002

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