HDR1012000170120730971500Catfish Production Catfish Production National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released July 30, 1997, 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 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Foodsize Inventory Up 8 Percent Commercial catfish operations in the four major producing States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) had 232 million foodsize fish on hand on July 1, 1997, up 8 percent from the July 1, 1996 total of 214 million. Live weight totaled 280 million pounds for all foodsize fish, 10 percent above July 1 a year ago. The breakouts of foodsize fish on July 1, 1997 with percent changes from the previous year are: large foodsize, at 4.36 million, up 12 percent; medium foodsize, at 50.7 million, up 23 percent; and small foodsize, at 177 million, up 5 percent. The four major States also had 1.07 million broodfish on hand on July 1, 1997, up 3 percent from last year's 1.04 million. Live weight totaled 4.95 million pounds for broodfish, up slightly from July 1, 1996. The number of stockers on hand on July 1, 1997 totaled 695 million fish, down 10 percent from the 769 million fish on hand a year ago. Of the total number of stockers on hand, 341 million were large stockers, down 1 percent from the previous year. The remaining 355 million were small stockers, down 16 percent. Live weight totaled 163 million pounds for all stockers, 14 percent below July 1 last year. Producers had 1.58 billion fingerlings and fry on hand on July 1, 1997, down 3 percent from the 1.63 billion fingerlings and fry on hand July 1, 1996. Live weight, however, at 19.5 million pounds, up 2 percent from the 19.1 million pounds a year ago. Water Acres Up 1 Percent The water surface area to be used for catfish production during July 1 through December 31, 1997 totaled 163,700 acres, up 1 percent from a year ago total of 162,100 acres. Of the total acres, 5,600 acres are to be renovated during the period from July 1, 1997 to December 31, 1997. Acres used for broodfish amounted to 4,840, foodsize amounted to 131,300 and fingerlings amounted to 20,400. An additional 4,460 acres are under construction or expected to be constructed and in use by January 1, 1997. During January 1, 1997 through June 30, 1997 period, 2,720 acres were taken out of production. The total number of operations on July 1, 1997 in the four major states was 853 down 5 percent from a year ago total of 899. Catfish Stocked In Growout Ponds During the April - June quarter, 193 million catfish were stocked into growout ponds. These 193 million fish consisted of 22.0 million large stockers, 50.1 million small stockers, and 121 million fingerlings. Aq 2 (7-97) Catfish: Number of Operations by, State July 1 and Water Surface Area by State, Jul 1 - Dec 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Operations : Total Water Surface Area State :------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1996 1 : 1997 : 1996 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ Number ------ --------- Acres --------- : AL : 250 245 20,500 21,100 AR : 190 170 26,500 28,000 LA : 109 101 14,300 13,900 MS : 350 337 100,800 100,700 : Total : 899 853 162,100 163,700 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Water Surface Area Being Renovated, Under Construction, Used for Broodfish, Foodsize, and Fingerling Production by State, Jul 1-Dec 31, 1997, Taken Out of Production by State, Jan 1-Jun 30, 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : July 1-December 31 :Jan 1-Jun 30 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- State : : : Used : Used : Used : Taken Out : Being : Under : For : For : For : of : Renovated :Construction :Broodfish: Foodsize :Fingerlings: Production -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Acres : : AL : 600 860 550 17,200 1,900 710 AR : 1,000 750 910 19,700 4,000 960 LA : 200 150 280 11,800 1,700 200 MS : 3,800 2,700 3,100 82,600 12,800 850 : Total : 5,600 4,460 4,840 131,300 20,400 2,720 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Broodfish by State, July 1, 1996-97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1996 : 1997 : 1996 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -------- 1,000 -------- ----- 1,000 Pounds ---- : AL : 130 129 661 653 AR : 140 188 660 785 LA : 105 52 480 260 MS : 663 703 3,144 3,253 : Total : 1,038 1,072 4,945 4,951 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Foodsize Fish by Size, State, and Total, July 1, 1996-97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1996 : 1997 : 1996 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------- 1,000 --------- ------ 1,000 Pounds ----- : : Large 1/ AL : 560 923 1,890 3,044 AR : 600 850 2,220 3,025 LA : 855 600 3,200 2,200 MS : 1,859 1,982 6,184 6,322 : Total : 3,874 4,355 13,494 14,591 : : Medium 2/ : AL : 7,187 10,521 12,471 19,334 AR : 7,650 9,045 13,550 15,935 LA : 4,250 5,800 7,850 11,200 MS : 22,236 25,314 40,050 45,453 : Total : 41,323 50,680 73,921 91,922 : : Small 3/ : AL : 31,784 29,999 30,083 31,895 AR : 25,020 19,350 24,800 18,655 LA : 14,550 17,450 13,600 17,400 MS : 97,667 109,879 97,689 105,408 : Total : 169,021 176,678 166,172 173,358 : : Total : AL : 39,531 41,443 44,444 54,273 AR : 33,270 29,245 40,570 37,615 LA : 19,655 23,850 24,650 30,800 MS : 121,762 137,175 143,923 157,183 : Total : 214,218 231,713 253,587 279,871 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Over 3 lbs. 2/ Over 1 1/2 lbs to 3 lbs. 3/ Over 3/4 lbs to 1 1/2 lbs. Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Stockers by Size, State, and Total, July 1, 1996-97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1996 : 1997 : 1996 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------- 1,000 --------- ------ 1,000 Pounds ----- : : Large 1/ AL : * 29,393 * 12,455 AR : 33,050 26,130 12,100 10,535 LA : * 13,550 * 5,900 MS : 261,383 271,660 110,678 100,520 : Total : 344,290 340,733 146,394 129,410 : : Small 2/ : AL : * 21,835 * 2,339 AR : 46,950 77,850 5,180 6,560 LA : * 32,900 * 3,300 MS : 241,772 222,064 23,688 21,351 : Total : 424,489 354,649 44,040 33,550 : : Total : AL : 63,174 51,228 18,288 14,794 AR : 80,000 103,980 17,280 17,095 LA : 122,450 46,450 20,500 9,200 MS : 503,155 493,724 134,366 121,871 : Total : 768,779 695,382 190,434 162,960 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Not published separately to avoid disclosure of individual operations. 1/ Over 180 lbs/1000 to 750 lbs/1,000. 2/ Over 60 lbs/1000 to 180 lbs/1,000. Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Fingerlings and Fry by State, July 1, 1996-97 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1996 : 1997 : 1996 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---------- 1,000 ---------- ----- 1,000 Pounds ----- : AL : 82,007 67,442 876 1,128 AR : 266,610 235,680 3,440 4,225 LA : 101,000 124,000 1,590 1,150 MS : 1,176,550 1,151,477 13,153 12,988 : Total : 1,626,167 1,578,599 19,059 19,491 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ 60 lbs 1,000 or less. Catfish: Number Stocked in Growout Ponds During Previous Quarter by Size Group and State, April-June 1996-97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Apr : May : Jun State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1996 : 1997 : 1996 : 1997 : 1996 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 : : Large Stockers : MS : * 8,415 1,771 4,304 1,722 3,493 : Total 1/: 15,109 11,338 3,702 6,683 3,520 3,937 : : Small Stockers : MS : 11,246 14,508 * 11,189 * 9,776 : Total 1/: 15,388 19,173 29,360 14,041 8,401 16,898 : : Fingerlings : MS : * 32,121 * 18,590 * 37,736 : Total 1/: 37,193 42,357 43,595 27,149 26,287 51,898 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Not published separately to avoid disclosure of individual operations. 1/ Includes AL, AR, LA and MS. Catfish: Round Weight Processed by Month, United States, 1990-Current -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 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 38,557 39,517 36,752 1997 : 42,409 45,067 48,431 45,721 43,409 42,282 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 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 1996 : 39,025 40,463 38,807 42,070 37,203 36,874 472,123 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Prices Paid To Producers by Month, United States, 1990-Current 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dollars per Pound : 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 .78 .79 .79 1997 : .73 .73 .73 .73 .73 .72 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec :Ann. Avg. :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dollars per Pound : 1990 : .76 .76 .76 .76 .75 .72 .758 1991 : .63 .60 .59 .58 .57 .53 .631 1992 : .59 .58 .59 .61 .62 .63 .598 1993 : .72 .73 .73 .73 .73 .73 .709 1994 : .80 .80 .80 .77 .77 .77 .784 1995 : .79 .79 .78 .78 .78 .78 .786 1996 : .79 .78 .77 .76 .75 .73 .773 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 905 operators were contacted during the first half of July by mail, telephone, and personal face-to-face interview, and 85 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 3:00 p.m. ET on October 29, 1997. 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