CHANNEL CATFISH CULTURE

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CHANNEL CATFISH CULTURE IN THE UNITED
STATES BY Leonard Lovshin Department of Fisheries
and Allied Aquacultures Auburn University, AL
36849
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Channel Catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus )
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Native Range Of Channel Catfish In The United
States
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Food Habits
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Preferred Habitat
Reservoirs and lakes
Rivers
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MaximumWeight

• The world angling record is
• 58 lb caught in Santee
• Cooper reservoir, South
• Carolina

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Reproductive Life 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 70 to
  84 F, with optimal temperature 75 to 79 F.

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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
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Levee ponds
Hillside pond
Flat pond bottom

• Catfish are grown in 10 to 25 acre earthen ponds
• with flat bottoms.

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Catfish ponds are filled with either
Filtered surface water or rainfall
Well water
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Spawning in captivity

• 1. Stock adults 3 to 8 years old
• 2. Stock 1 male to 2 females
• 3. Stock 800 lb of brooders/acre

male
female
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Spawning Containers
Ammo cans
Milk cans
float
Wooden box
Boxes in spawning pond
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Spawning occurs during May and June in the
Southeastern U. S. Spawning cans are checked
every 2 to 3 days for spawns.
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Hatching Shed
Eggs are transported to a hatching shed.
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Eggs are placed in 5-mm square wire mesh baskets
suspended in a paddlewheel incubator.
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Eggs hatch in 5 to 6 days at water temperatures
of 75 to 80 F.
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Fry are placed in screen boxes or troughs for 7
to 14 days before stocking in ponds. Fry are fed
powdered feed.
Screen bottom boxes
Fiberglass trough
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Fry are stocked at 60,000 to 100,000 acre and
grown for 5 months.
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Fry are fed powdered, crumbled andpelleted
feeds.
powdered
Large crumble
Small crumble
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Fingerlings are stocked in fattening ponds during
January to March. Stocking density is 6,000 to
8,000/acre.
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Catfish feed is purchased by the bag or delivered
in bulk and stored in silos.
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Floating pellets are distributed by a feed blower
mounted on a truck.
Floating pellets
corn wheat soybean
Trucked mounted fish feeder
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Feed amount is controlled by an electronic
scale located in the truck cab. Catfish are fed
what they will eat up to a maximum of 100
lb/acre/day.
Feeding catfish
Scale controls
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Dissolved oxygen concentration is checked night
and day to assure that levels remain above 2 ppm.
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Electric ( fixed ) and tractor ( mobile ) powered
paddlewheels are used to increase D. O. levels.
No water exchange is practiced because ponds are
large and pumping water is costly.
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Low D. O. can kill catfish within 1 or 2 hours.
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Many diseases cause fish mortality.
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Birds consume many fish in some regions.
Shoo !
Gas cannon to scare the birds
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Catfish are removed from the pond with a seine
stored on a hydraulic reel powered by a tractor.
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Management systems used

• Mono-harvest
• All catfish are removed from the pond when they
  reach 1 to 2 lb, 6 to 12 months from stocking.
• Ponds are drained yearly.
• 2. Multi-harvest
• Only catfish larger than 1 lb 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.

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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 35,000 lb of fish in 1 hour.
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Catfish are weighed onto trucks taking the fish
to the processing factory. Each basket holds up
to 2,000 lb of fish.
scale
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Fish are checked for off-flavor 2 weeks, 1 day
and upon arrival at the processor. Off-flavor
fish are not harvested.
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Catfish are weighed a second time upon
arrival at the processor. Fish arrive alive.
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Catfish are cleaned, filleted and frozen by the
processor.
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Processed forms as a percentage of total catfish
processed 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
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The catfish industry maintains a quality control
program to insure the consumer a fresh and
healthy product.
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Principle farming states are located in the
Southeastern U. S.. Mississippi ( MS ) Alabama (
AL ) and Arkansas ( AR ) produce 90 of the
farmed catfish.
Mississippi accounts for 65 of farmed catfish
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The channel catfish industry developed in
the Southeast because
1. Popular food fish - market
2. Warm climate
3. Abundant water and clay soils
4. Close to major grain farming regions - cheap
fish feeds
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Pond yield
4,000 to 7,000 lb/acre/year
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• Channel Catfish Growth in Live Weight Processed
• and Average Price per Pound, 1970 - 2001
•  
• YEAR LIVE WEIGHT AVG. PRICE
• PROCESSED, lb PER
  lb, US.
• ------- ---------------------
  -----------------
• 1970 5,740,999 0.34
• 1975 16,139,998 .50
• 1980 46,464,000 .68
• 1985 191,615,998 .72
• 359,999,992 .77
• 446,886,000 .79
• 1999 596,626,800 .74
• 593,602,988 .75
• 2001 596,510,798
  .65
• Price to farmer for fish delivered to the
  processing plant

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EAT MORE CATFISH
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The End