Aq 2 (4-99) Catfish Production National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released April 29, 1999, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Catfish Production" call John Lange at (202) 720-0585, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Foodsize Inventory Up 6 Percent Commercial catfish operations in the four major producing States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) had 184 million foodsize fish on hand on April 1, 1999, up 6 percent from April 1, 1998. Live weight totaled 219 million pounds for all foodsize fish, 4 percent above April 1 a year ago. The breakouts of the number of foodsize fish on April 1, 1999 with percent changes from the previous year are: large foodsize, at 3.33 million, down 11 percent; medium foodsize, at 42.5 million, up 13 percent; and small foodsize, at 138 million, up 5 percent. The four major States had 1.16 million broodfish on hand on April 1, 1999, down 4 percent from last year's 1.21 million. Live weight totaled 5.41 million pounds for broodfish, 7 percent below April 1, 1998. The number of stockers on hand on April 1, 1999 totaled 652 million fish, up 23 percent from the 532 million fish on hand a year ago. Of the total number of stockers on hand, 316 million were large stockers, up 16 percent from the previous year. The remaining 336 million were small stockers, up 30 percent. Live weight totaled 169 million pounds for all stockers, 20 percent above April 1 last year. Producers had 806 million fingerlings on hand on April 1, 1999, down 7 percent from the 870 million fingerlings on hand April 1, 1998. Live weight, at 24.1 million pounds, increased 6 percent from the 22.8 million pounds a year ago. Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Broodfish by State, April 1, 1998-99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -------- 1,000 -------- ----- 1,000 Pounds ---- : AL : 109 140 596 765 AR : 260 170 1,215 810 LA : 52 40 232 170 MS : 785 805 3,741 3,660 : Total : 1,206 1,155 5,784 5,405 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Foodsize Fish by Size, State, and Total, April 1, 1998-99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Large 1/ : --------- 1,000 --------- ------ 1,000 Pounds ----- : AL : 800 1,040 2,681 3,420 AR : 925 630 3,239 2,120 LA : 745 680 2,555 2,270 MS : 1,265 980 4,451 3,400 : Total : 3,735 3,330 12,926 11,210 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Medium 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------------------- AL : 10,889 12,150 21,517 23,300 AR : 6,045 8,600 10,840 15,200 LA : 3,910 6,950 7,080 12,700 MS : 16,758 14,750 30,086 26,500 : Total : 37,602 42,450 69,523 77,700 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Small 3/ :----------------------------------------------------------------------- AL : 21,813 27,800 22,755 27,600 AR : 20,300 22,850 19,325 20,400 LA : 11,350 15,000 11,790 13,900 MS : 78,026 72,600 74,090 67,700 : Total : 131,489 138,250 127,960 129,600 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- AL : 33,502 40,990 46,953 54,320 AR : 27,270 32,080 33,404 37,720 LA : 16,005 22,630 21,425 28,870 MS : 96,049 88,330 108,627 97,600 : Total : 172,826 184,030 210,409 218,510 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Over three lbs. 2/ Over one and one-half lbs. to three lbs. 3/ Over three-fourths lb. to one and one-half lbs. Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Stockers by Size, State, and Total, April 1, 1998-99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Large 1/ : --------- 1,000 --------- ------ 1,000 Pounds ----- : AL : 21,223 30,900 9,694 14,450 AR : 32,300 38,450 11,640 15,450 LA : 11,620 17,500 4,690 9,500 MS : 207,584 229,300 90,124 94,400 : Total : 272,727 316,150 116,148 133,800 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Small 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------------------- AL : 27,148 29,400 2,499 2,955 AR : 43,700 37,730 3,772 3,955 LA : 19,630 21,350 1,790 2,260 MS : 169,037 247,800 16,702 25,900 : Total : 259,515 336,280 24,763 35,070 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- AL : 48,371 60,300 12,193 17,405 AR : 76,000 76,180 15,412 19,405 LA : 31,250 38,850 6,480 11,760 MS : 376,621 477,100 106,826 120,300 : Total : 532,242 652,430 140,911 168,870 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Over 180 lbs./1,000 to 750 lbs/1,000. 2/ Over 60 lbs./1,000 to 180 lbs/1,000. Catfish: Number and Live Weight of Fingerlings by State, April 1, 1998-99 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight State :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1998 : 1999 : 1998 : 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------- 1,000 --------- ----- 1,000 Pounds ----- : AL : 38,996 49,600 1,502 1,970 AR : 120,700 125,800 3,540 3,690 LA : 53,260 54,000 1,160 1,860 MS : 656,895 576,300 16,560 16,600 : Total : 869,851 805,700 22,762 24,120 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Over 2 lbs/1,000 to 60 lbs/1,000. Catfish: Round Weight Processed by Month, United States, 1992-99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 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 1998 : 46,723 47,606 53,761 49,393 45,218 46,244 1999 : 48,723 48,891 56,310 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 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 1997 : 43,376 44,154 43,472 46,275 40,137 40,216 524,949 1998 : 46,383 47,739 46,579 47,904 43,224 43,581 564,355 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Prices Paid To Producers by Month, United States, 1992-99 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dollars per Pound : 1992 : 0.53 0.56 0.60 0.63 0.63 0.61 1993 : 0.63 0.67 0.70 0.71 0.72 0.72 1994 : 0.74 0.77 0.79 0.80 0.80 0.80 1995 : 0.78 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.79 1996 : 0.77 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.79 0.79 1997 : 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.72 1998 : 0.69 0.73 0.78 0.79 0.79 0.78 1999 : 0.703 0.714 0.732 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec :Ann. Avg. :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dollars per Pound : 1992 : 0.59 0.58 0.59 0.61 0.62 0.63 0.598 1993 : 0.72 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.709 1994 : 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.784 1995 : 0.79 0.79 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.786 1996 : 0.79 0.78 0.77 0.76 0.75 0.73 0.773 1997 : 0.71 0.70 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.712 1998 : 0.76 0.74 0.73 0.71 0.70 0.70 0.743 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 955 operators were contacted during the first half of April by mail, telephone, and personal interview, with 89 percent providing a usable report. An attempt was made to contact all known catfish producers during this time. States used every available source of producer names to make their list as complete as possible. Great care was exercised to ensure that all operations were 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, 1999. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C., 20250-9410, or call 202-720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. ACCESS TO REPORTS!! For your convenience, there are several ways to obtain NASS reports, data products, and services: INTERNET ACCESS All NASS reports are available free of charge on the worldwide Internet. For access, connect to the Internet and go to the NASS Home Page at: http://www.usda.gov/nass/. Select "Today's Reports" or Publications and then Reports by Calendar or Publications and then Search, by Title or Subject. E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION All NASS reports are available by subscription free of charge direct to your e-mail address. Send an e-mail message to: usda-reports@usda.mannlib.cornell.edu. In the body of the message type the word: list. AUTOFAX ACCESS NASSFax service is available for some reports from your fax machine. Please call 202-720-2000, using the handset attached to your fax. Respond to the voice prompts. Document 0411 is a list of available reports. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PRINTED REPORTS OR DATA PRODUCTS CALL OUR TOLL-FREE ORDER DESK: 800-999-6779 (U.S. and Canada) Other areas, please call 703-834-0125 FAX: 703-834-0110 (Visa, MasterCard, check, or money order acceptable for payment.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ASSISTANCE For assistance with general agricultural statistics or further information about NASS or its products or services, contact the Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 800-727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov.