Aq 2 (7-03) Catfish Production National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released July 28, 2003, 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. Foodfish Inventory Numbers Down 10 Percent From Year Ago Levels Commercial catfish operations in the four major producing States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) had 347 million foodsize fish on hand on July 1, 2003, down 10 percent from the July 1, 2002 total of 386 million. The breakouts of foodsize fish inventory numbers on July 1, 2003, with their respective percent change from the previous year are: large foodsize, 7.38 million, down 28 percent; medium foodsize, 85.2 million, down 10 percent; and small foodsize, 254 million, down 10 percent. The four major States also had 894 thousand broodfish on hand on July 1, 2003, down 15 percent from last year's 1.05 million. The number of large stockers on hand on July 1, 2003, totaled 314 million fish, down 17 percent from the 379 million fish on hand a year ago. There were 335 million small stockers, down 14 percent from last year. Producers had 1.50 billion fingerlings and fry on hand on July 1, 2003, down 8 percent from the 1.64 billion on hand July 1, 2002. Live weight, at 22.3 million pounds, was down 11 percent from the 25.1 million pounds a year ago. Water Acres Down 5 Percent The water surface area to be used for catfish production during July 1 through December 31, 2003, totaled 174,900 acres, down 5 percent from a year ago. Acres used for foodsize fish totaled 143,100 acres, down 5 percent from July 2002. Acres for broodfish were down 15 percent to 4,025 acres, and acres used for fingerling production decreased 5 percent to 23,860 acres. Acres taken out of production during the January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003 period totaled 4,950, while 3,790 acres of the total in production were scheduled to be renovated from July 1, 2003 to December 31. The total number of operations on July 1, 2003 in the four major states was 825, down 6 percent from the year ago total of 880. Catfish: Number of Operations and Water Surface Acres, Used for Production, 2002-2003, by State and United States ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of : Water Surface Acres : Operations : Used for Production State : on Jul 1 : During Jul 1 - Dec 31 :--------------------------------------------------------------- : 2002 : 2003 : 2002 : 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ Number ----- -------- Acres -------- : AL : 245 220 26,100 26,000 AR : 180 150 37,500 33,500 LA : 65 50 11,300 9,400 MS : 390 405 110,000 106,000 : Four State : Total : 880 825 184,900 174,900 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish Production: Water Surface Acre Usage, by State and United States, 2002-2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :Acres Intended for Utilization During Jul 1-Dec 31 for- : :--------------------------------------------------------:Acres Taken : : : : Currently Under : Out of State : : : : or Scheduled for - : Production : Foodsize :Fingerlings:Broodfish:-----------------------: During : : : : : New :Jan 1-Jun 30 : : : :Renovation:Construction: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 2002 : : AL : 23,100 1,800 470 320 440 680 AR : 31,000 5,000 750 700 150 1,350 LA : 9,300 1,600 220 270 60 1,040 MS : 88,000 16,600 3,300 3,300 800 2,300 : Four State: Total : 151,400 25,000 4,740 4,590 1,450 5,370 : 2003 : : AL : 22,900 1,700 480 590 80 760 AR : 28,000 4,300 600 500 * 900 LA : 8,100 960 145 600 60 590 MS : 84,100 16,900 2,800 2,100 100 2,700 : Four State: Total : 143,100 23,860 4,025 3,790 * 4,950 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Inventory by Size Category, by State and United States, July 1, 2002-2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight Size Category : of :-------------------------------------- and : Fish : Total : Average per Fish State :--------------------------------------------------------- : 2002 : 2003 : 2002 : 2003 : 2002 : 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ----1,000---- 1,000 Pounds ----Pounds---- : Large Foodsize : : AL : 3,900 2,500 12,700 8,150 3.3 3.3 AR : 3,100 1,130 10,400 3,650 3.4 3.2 LA : 520 450 1,890 1,680 3.6 3.7 MS : 2,700 3,300 9,200 11,400 3.4 3.5 : Four State : Total : 10,220 7,380 34,190 24,880 3.3 3.4 : : Medium Foodsize : : AL : 23,300 19,200 44,900 34,100 1.9 1.8 AR : 24,800 20,300 47,700 38,600 1.9 1.9 LA : 4,900 8,900 8,500 15,600 1.7 1.8 MS : 41,400 36,800 75,700 68,000 1.8 1.8 : Four State : Total : 94,400 85,200 176,800 156,300 1.9 1.8 : : Small Foodsize : : AL : 45,700 55,100 46,700 54,600 1.0 1.0 AR : 41,800 43,800 42,300 39,500 1.0 0.9 LA : 8,400 12,000 8,400 10,900 1.0 0.9 MS : 185,100 143,400 187,900 143,300 1.0 1.0 : Four State : Total : 281,000 254,300 285,300 248,300 1.0 1.0 : : Total Foodsize : : AL : 72,900 76,800 104,300 96,850 AR : 69,700 65,230 100,400 81,750 LA : 13,820 21,350 18,790 28,180 MS : 229,200 183,500 272,800 222,700 : Four State : Total : 385,620 346,880 496,290 429,480 : : Broodfish : : AL : 135 65 960 400 7.1 6.2 AR : 140 110 710 570 5.1 5.2 LA : 27 19 165 100 6.1 5.3 MS : 750 700 3,600 3,200 4.8 4.6 : Four State : Total : 1,052 894 5,435 4,270 5.2 4.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Inventory by Size Category, by State and United States, July 1, 2002-2003 (continued) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : Live Weight : of :-------------------------------------- Size Category : Fish : Total : Average and : : : per 1,000 Fish State :--------------------------------------------------------- : 2002 : 2003 : 2002 : 2003 : 2002 : 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ----1,000---- 1,000 Pounds ----Pounds---- : Large Stockers : : AL : 94,900 54,300 45,000 20,000 474 368 AR : 49,600 45,600 18,300 16,000 369 351 LA : 16,500 6,800 7,200 3,000 436 441 MS : 217,800 207,000 89,300 84,600 410 409 : Four State : Total : 378,800 313,700 159,800 123,600 422 394 : : Small Stockers : : AL : 59,000 36,500 7,700 3,600 131 98.6 AR : 78,800 63,500 7,600 6,000 96.4 94.5 LA : 28,500 10,100 2,400 1,230 84.2 122 MS : 221,800 225,000 21,700 21,200 97.8 94.2 : Four State : Total : 388,100 335,100 39,400 32,030 102 95.6 : : Total Stockers : : AL : 153,900 90,800 52,700 23,600 AR : 128,400 109,100 25,900 22,000 LA : 45,000 16,900 9,600 4,230 MS : 439,600 432,000 111,000 105,800 : Four State : Total : 766,900 648,800 199,200 155,630 : : Fingerlings : and Fry : : AL : 121,700 92,500 1,540 1,430 12.7 15.5 AR : 297,000 220,000 4,400 3,600 14.8 16.4 LA : 94,300 85,300 1,700 1,400 18.0 16.4 MS :1,123,0001,104,000 17,500 15,900 15.6 14.4 : Four State : Total :1,636,0001,501,800 25,140 22,330 15.4 14.9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Round Weight Processed, United States, by Month, 1994-2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 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 46,830 47,703 48,445 2000 : 50,552 50,942 56,856 48,781 48,424 48,011 2001 : 46,999 50,257 57,766 52,478 51,736 47,883 2002 : 52,551 52,856 58,340 50,694 52,902 49,450 2003 : 55,523 55,461 65,007 57,105 58,424 52,441 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds : 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 1999 : 50,074 50,372 50,414 52,407 48,118 48,341 596,628 2000 : 49,023 53,204 49,422 51,412 45,535 41,441 593,603 2001 : 47,829 51,690 49,699 52,264 44,670 43,837 597,108 2002 : 52,363 54,383 53,366 56,576 50,072 47,048 630,601 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catfish: Prices Paid to Producers by Processors, United States, by Month, 1994-2003 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year : Jan : Feb : Mar : Apr : May : Jun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dollars per Pound : 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 : 0.70 0.71 0.73 0.76 0.78 0.78 2000 : 0.744 0.788 0.789 0.789 0.785 0.786 2001 : 0.693 0.696 0.697 0.694 0.687 0.669 2002 : 0.549 0.555 0.565 0.561 0.574 0.588 2003 : 0.529 0.544 0.585 0.630 0.618 0.586 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : : : : Annual : Jul : Aug : Sep : Oct : Nov : Dec : Average :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dollars per Pound : 1994 : 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.78 1995 : 0.79 0.79 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.79 1996 : 0.79 0.78 0.77 0.76 0.75 0.73 0.77 1997 : 0.71 0.70 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.71 1998 : 0.76 0.74 0.73 0.71 0.70 0.70 0.74 1999 : 0.77 0.74 0.73 0.72 0.71 0.72 0.74 2000 : 0.760 0.741 0.727 0.710 0.696 0.682 0.751 2001 : 0.656 0.624 0.610 0.596 0.566 0.554 0.647 2002 : 0.590 0.582 0.576 0.568 0.560 0.544 0.568 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Price of fish delivered to processing plant door. Price includes charges for services provided by the processing plant, but does not include any adjustments based on year-end settlements. Methodology and Definitions Survey Procedures: All known catfish operators in the four survey states were contacted during the first half of July by mail, telephone, and personal interview. Estimation Procedures: Sound statistical methodology was employed to derive the estimates from reported data. All data were analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation were compared to their own past operating profile and to trends of similar operations. Data for missing operations were estimated based on similar operations or historical data. Reliability: Catfish 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. 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