HDR1012000170120429961500Catfish Production Released April 29, 1996, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Catfish Production" call Dan Boostrom at (202) 720-3244, office hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. For assistance with general agricultural statistics, information about NASS, its products or services, contact the NASS Information Hotline at 1-800-727-9540 or E-mail: NASS@NASS.USDA.GOV. Estimates refer to April 1, 1995 and April 1, 1996. Foodsize Inventory Up Slightly Commercial catfish operations in the four major producing States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) had 139 million foodsize fish on hand on April 1, 1996, up slightly from April 1, 1995. Live weight totaled 166 million pounds for all foodsize fish, 2 percent above April 1 a year ago. The breakout of foodsize fish on April 1, 1996 with percent changes from the previous year are: large foodsize, at 3.12 million, up 28 percent; medium foodsize, at 30.0 million, up 22 percent; and small foodsize, at 106 million, down 5 percent. The four major States also had 1.17 million broodfish on hand on April 1, 1996, up 2 percent from last year's 1.15 million. Live weight totaled 5.60 million pounds for broodfish, 2 percent above April 1, 1995. The number of stockers on hand on April 1, 1996 totaled 616 million fish, up 22 percent from the 503 million fish on hand a year ago. Of the total number of stockers on hand, 282 million were large stockers, up 13 percent from the previous year. The remaining 334 million were small stockers, up 32 percent. Live weight totaled 150 million pounds for all stockers, 19 percent above April 1 last year. Producers had 749 million fingerlings on hand on April 1, 1996, up 27 percent from the 590 million fingerlings on hand April 1, 1995. Live weight, however, at 22.1 million pounds, jumped 21 percent from the 18.2 million pounds a year ago. During the January - March quarter, 167 million catfish were stocked into growout ponds, down 30 percent from the 239 million stocked during the same period a year ago. These 167 million fish consisted of 18.6 million large stockers, 30.7 million small stockers, and 117 million fingerlings. Revisions: Revisions to estimates of total sales and number, weight, value of sales and average value per pound of all foodsize catfish published in the February issue of "Catfish Production" are shown on page 5 of this report. Aq 2 (4-96) Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Broodfish by State, April 1, 1995-96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1995 : 1996 : 1995 : 1996 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -------- 1,000 -------- ----- 1,000 Pounds ---- : AL : 106 103 588 557 AR : 134 200 653 915 LA : 86 90 435 430 MS : 820 779 3,798 3,695 : Total : 1,146 1,172 5,474 5,597 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Foodsize Fish by Size, State, and Total, April 1, 1995-96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1995 : 1996 : 1995 : 1996 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------- 1,000 --------- ------ 1,000 Pounds ----- : : Large 1/ AL : 610 826 2,147 2,893 AR : 560 550 1,843 1,920 LA : 135 370 440 1,250 MS : 1,127 1,371 3,956 4,802 : Total : 2,432 3,117 8,386 10,865 : : Medium 2/ : AL : 3,843 4,416 7,498 7,690 AR : 3,695 5,690 6,756 9,960 LA : 3,210 2,750 6,600 5,050 MS : 13,880 17,152 25,626 31,295 : Total : 24,628 30,008 46,480 53,995 : : Small 3/ : AL : 18,297 18,298 17,508 16,499 AR : 14,893 14,390 13,728 14,110 LA : 12,850 10,600 12,450 9,850 MS : 65,810 62,884 64,334 60,795 : Total : 111,850 106,172 108,020 101,254 : : Total : AL : 22,750 23,540 27,153 27,082 AR : 19,148 20,630 22,327 25,990 LA : 16,195 13,720 19,490 16,150 MS : 80,817 81,407 93,916 96,892 : Total : 138,910 139,297 162,886 166,114 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Over 3 lbs/fish. 2/ Over 1 1/2 lbs to 3 lbs/fish. 3/ Over 3/4 lbs to 1 1/2 lbs/fish. Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Stockers by Size, State, and Total, April 1, 1995-96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1995 : 1996 : 1995 : 1996 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------- 1,000 --------- ------ 1,000 Pounds ----- : : Large 1/ AL : 18,746 29,617 6,860 13,149 AR : 16,355 26,050 6,631 10,760 LA : 7,800 6,400 2,650 2,700 MS : 206,418 219,774 85,302 91,449 : Total : 249,319 281,841 101,443 118,058 : : Small 2/ : AL : 30,361 28,096 2,565 2,373 AR : 30,260 43,720 2,899 4,265 LA : 27,400 55,600 2,940 4,800 MS : 165,752 206,778 15,801 20,073 : Total : 253,773 334,194 24,205 31,511 : : Total : AL : 49,107 57,713 9,425 15,522 AR : 46,615 69,770 9,530 15,025 LA : 35,200 62,000 5,590 7,500 MS : 372,170 426,552 101,103 111,522 : Total : 503,092 616,035 125,648 149,569 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Over 180 lbs to 750 lbs/1,000 fish. 2/ Over 60 lbs to 180 lbs/1,000 fish. Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Fingerlings by State, April 1, 1995-96 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1995 : 1996 : 1995 : 1996 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------- 1,000 --------- ----- 1,000 Pounds ----- : AL : 30,391 53,934 1,006 1,697 AR : 86,749 114,800 3,216 3,990 LA : 41,400 49,000 1,860 2,100 MS : 431,133 531,528 12,141 14,305 : Total : 589,673 749,262 18,223 22,092 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Over 2 lbs to 60lbs/1,000 fish. Catfish: Number Stocked in Growout Ponds During Previous Quarter by Size Group and State, January-March 1995-96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jan : Feb : Mar State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1995 : 1996 : 1995 : 1996 : 1995 : 1996 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 : : Large Stockers : AL : * 2,645 * 418 * 2,062 AR : * * * * * * LA : 4,280 * 400 * * * MS : 3,006 1,662 7,575 1,508 6,167 8,304 : Total : 8,333 4,597 10,661 2,706 8,260 11,336 : : Small Stockers : AL : 5,165 4,373 5,329 1,769 3,346 3,215 AR : * * * * * * LA : * * * * * * MS : 7,162 2,011 11,048 2,199 15,788 6,838 : Total : 23,340 7,069 20,455 5,188 21,109 18,453 : : Fingerlings : AL : 6,758 10,534 7,805 8,874 9,624 9,554 AR : * * * 3,050 * 3,490 LA : * * * 4,800 * 9,050 MS : 1,700 5,585 33,270 14,696 49,815 44,483 : Total : 28,564 19,409 43,658 31,420 74,990 66,577 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Not published separately to avoid disclosure of individual operations. Revisions: Revisions to estimates of total sales and number, weight, value of sales and average value per pound of all foodsize catfish published in the February issue of "Catfish Production" are shown on this page. Catfish: Number of Operations and Water Surface Acres, 1995-96 and Total Sales, 1994-95 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Operations : Water Surface Acres : Total Sales State :-------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul 1, : Jan 1, : Jul 1, : Jan 1, : : : 1995 : 1996 : 1995 : 1996 : 1994 : 1995 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---- Number ---- -- 1,000 Dollars -- : AL : 240 250 18,500 19,600 41,058 50,909 AR : 160 190 19,500 23,000 36,813 41,034 CA : 37 34 2,500 2,180 6,386 6,703 FL : 20 17 260 240 280 280 KY : 30 28 300 290 865 717 LA : 100 105 13,600 13,700 20,212 18,862 MS : 297 337 95,500 99,000 280,697 271,875 MO : 70 70 1,800 2,400 2,533 2,924 NC : 44 43 1,200 1,200 1,382 1,961 OK : 45 45 700 700 358 362 SC : 36 25 1,200 1,200 1,974 1,770 TN : 21 21 380 370 510 332 TX : 110 92 2,400 2,265 3,720 875 : Oth Sts 2/ : 57 63 1,000 1,135 615 884 : Total : 1,267 1,320 158,840 167,280 397,403 399,488 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Revised. 2/ Includes GA and KS. Catfish: Number, Weight, and Value of Sales of All Foodsize by State, 1994-95 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Pounds : Value : Avg Value State : Sold : Sold : of Sales : per Pound :-------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1994 : 1995 : 1994 : 1995 : 1994 : 1995 : 1994 : 1995 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :------------- 1,000 ------------- 1,000 Dollars -- Dollars -- : AL : 48,454 50,021 54,417 68,067 40,114 49,284 .74 .72 AR : 26,966 28,000 45,831 46,700 34,812 36,500 .76 .78 CA : 1,622 1,850 3,070 3,550 5,181 6,330 1.69 1.78 FL : * 55 * 100 * 135 * 1.35 KY : 290 290 660 540 810 690 1.23 1.28 LA : 17,800 16,000 26,300 23,000 19,700 18,150 .75 .79 MS 1/ :247,686 220,521 340,568 330,961 265,018 259,537 .78 .78 MO : 1,084 1,265 2,169 2,561 1,756 2,153 .81 .84 NC : 911 1,362 1,650 2,290 1,258 1,817 .76 .79 OK : 210 247 305 264 250 231 .82 .88 SC : 1,238 1,277 2,224 2,078 1,665 1,600 .75 .77 TN : 174 72 295 191 333 221 1.13 1.16 TX : 789 355 1,356 566 2,095 721 1.54 1.27 : Oth Sts 2/ : 391 485 534 610 605 695 1.13 1.14 : Total 1/ :347,615 321,800 479,379 481,478 373,597 378,064 .78 .79 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Included in other States to avoid disclosure of individual operations. 1/ 1995 revision. 2/ Includes GA and KS. Catfish: Round Weight Processed by Month, United States, 1989-Current -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 1989 : 26,948 28,559 29,458 27,310 28,892 27,598 1990 : 33,066 31,884 33,120 30,980 31,542 28,967 1991 : 32,206 33,036 35,951 31,205 31,322 31,588 1992 : 36,200 39,228 45,048 41,177 39,111 36,813 1993 : 40,327 40,277 43,521 39,920 37,030 35,496 1994 : 36,714 35,035 40,446 34,494 34,163 34,595 1995 : 38,807 38,515 42,200 36,588 37,030 36,047 1996 : 38,475 38,004 46,376 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 1989 : 27,827 28,371 30,366 31,670 29,096 25,805 341,900 1990 : 29,540 31,108 27,566 29,211 27,913 25,538 360,435 1991 : 32,720 32,912 33,244 35,400 31,114 30,172 390,870 1992 : 36,128 37,958 37,857 39,212 35,073 33,562 457,367 1993 : 37,086 37,706 37,072 39,472 36,557 34,549 459,013 1994 : 35,901 39,813 38,716 39,072 36,054 34,266 439,269 1995 : 35,800 38,827 37,634 39,456 34,119 31,863 446,886 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Prices Paid To Producers by Month, United States, 1989-Current 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Cents per Pounds : 1989 : 78 78 77 76 76 75 1990 : 72 74 78 78 78 78 1991 : 69 69 69 69 66 65 1992 : 53 56 60 63 63 61 1993 : 63 67 70 71 72 72 1994 : 74 77 79 80 80 80 1995 : 78 79 79 79 79 79 1996 : 77 78 78 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec :Ann. Avg. :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Cents per Pounds : 1989 : 71 68 65 64 64 68 71.7 1990 : 76 76 76 76 75 72 75.8 1991 : 63 60 59 58 57 53 63.1 1992 : 59 58 59 61 62 63 59.8 1993 : 72 73 73 73 73 73 71.0 1994 : 80 80 80 77 77 77 78.4 1995 : 79 79 78 78 78 78 78.6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Price of fish delivered to processing plant door. Price includes charges for any services provided by the processing plant, but does not include any adjustments based on year-end settlements. Catfish Production Estimates Survey Procedures: About 900 operators were contacted during the first half of April by mail, telephone, and personal face-to-face interview, and 84 percent provided a usable report. An attempt was made to contact all known catfish producers during this time. States use every available source of producer names to make their list as complete as possible. Great care is exercised to ensure that all operations are accounted for in the estimates. Estimation Procedures: Sound statistical methodology is employed to derive the estimates from reported data. All data are analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation are compared to their own past operating profile and to trends from similar operations. Data for missing operations are estimated based on similar operations or historical data. Reliability: Catfish production estimates are based on a census of all known active producers and, therefore, have no sampling variability. However, estimates may be subject to errors such as omissions, duplication, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing of the data. These errors are minimized through strict quality controls in the edit and summarization process and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. Revision policy: Estimates for the previous year are subject to revision when current estimates are made. Revisions are the result of late or corrected data. Definitions Used for Catfish Production: Broodfish - Fish kept for egg production, including males. Broodfish produce the fertilized eggs which go to hatcheries. The most desirable size is 3 to 10 pounds or 4 to 6 years of age. Large Foodsize - Fish weighing over 3 pounds. Medium Foodsize - Fish weighing over one and one-half pounds to 3 pounds. Small Foodsize - Fish weighing over three-fourths pound to one and one-half pounds. Large Stockers - Fish weighing over 180 pounds to 750 pounds per 1,000 fish. Small Stockers - Fish weighing over 60 pounds to 180 pounds per 1,000 fish. Fingerlings/Fry - Fish weighing 60 pounds per 1,000 fish and less. The next "Catfish Production" report will be released at 3 p.m. ET on July 30, 1996. 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