Results of a recent survey conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services revealed that Florida growers sold $102 million in aquacultural products during 1997. This compares with $79 million (based on a similar survey) in 1995 and $73 million in 1993. Sales totaled $54 million in 1991 and $51 million in 1989. The first survey for Florida Aquaculture estimated sales in 1987 at only $35 million. The 1997 sales nearly tripled 1987 sales and represent a 29 percent increase from two years earlier. There were about 11,627 acres of land, including water surface area, devoted to aquaculture production in 1997. Aquatic species identified in the survey were tropical (ornamental) fish, catfish, alligators, oysters, clams, sport and game fish, crawfish, eels, tilapia, shrimp, aquatic plants and other minor aquatics. The value is based on farm gate sales of aquatics produced by Florida growers and excludes harvest from open waters or the wild. Growers also sold another $3.5 million worth of tropical fish which they imported for immediate resale. All statistics shown in the tables of this report are for net Florida production and value and exclude imports and purchases from other Florida producers for immediate resale.

[* Includes Tilapia]

    There were 696 active producers of which 552 reported sales in 1997. As in previous surveys, tropical fish continued to dominate Florida's Aquaculture industry. There were 203 active growers of tropical fish accounting for $57 million, 56 percent of total sales. Tropical fish accounted for 67 percent of total sales in 1995. Aquatic plants, with 59 growers and $13.2 million net sales, were second in value. Clams, valued at $12.7 million, were sold by 318 growers. Alligators, with 26 active growers contributed $3.19 million from combined hide and meat sales. Sport and game fish sales totaled $1.04 million and sales from tilapia were steady at $1.07 million. Forty two catfish growers contributed $0.64 million. Other shellfish totaled $9.34 million . All other aquatic sales totaled $2.72 million from 14 growers.

    The survey also identified 109 other potential new growers with intentions to produce aquacultural products for sale in 1998 or later. The largest increase is expected in clams with 64 new growers. Many of these 64 new growers will be in production when they graduate from the school at Charlotte County in June of this year. There are four growers for tropical fish and seven for aquatic plants who are expected to have sales for the first time in 1998 or later. There are three new oyster growers, ten new tilapia growers, and two new sport and game fish producers with intentions to have future sales. Among other species there are five other operations expected to have aquatic production in 1998 or later. Fourteen new catfish growers are expected to start in 1998.

    Based on survey findings, production of tropical fish, aquatic plants, tilapia, catfish, and clams will show increases in 1998. Tropical fish production is well established in Florida, with orderly growth expected to continue. Clam production is expected to increase as more growers start production.

    Net sales of tropical fish totaled $57.2 million from 203 growers during 1997, up $4.7 million from 1995. The first survey showed sales at only $21.7 million in 1987. Egg layers contributed $33.5 million in net value while sales of livebearers totaled $23.7 million. All of the increase is from livebearers while production and sale of egg layers has remained mostly steady since 1991. Egg layers imported for immediate resale were valued at $2.2 million in 1997 while the value of livebearer imports was $1.2 million. Purchases from other growers totaled $10.1 million in 1997. Net sales do not include value of imports or value of purchases from other growers. Producers used 66.6 million square feet of water surface area. Forty seven percent of the water surface was used for growing egg layers and the remaining 53 percent was used for growing livebearers. These percentages reflect a significent switch from egg layers to livebearers since 2 years ago.

            

    Some of the more prominent species of tropical fish sold commercially for ornamental use are guppies, mollies, swordtails, variatus, platies tetras, gouramies, goldfish, cichlids, barbs, and tropical catfish. Fish harvested from the wild are not included in this survey. Tropical fish production is centered in Hillsborough and Polk counties with smaller concentrations in Dade and Palm Beach counties. Current growers expect to use about the same amount of water surface area this year as they used in 1997. In addition, there are four new growers expecting to produce tropical fish this year or later.

TROPICAL FISH AND AQUATIC PLANTS, FLORIDA 1997
Specie	Number of growers	Water surface		Value of sales 1997
		1997	1998 1/
	Number	1,000 sq. feet		1,000 dollars
Egg layers	163	31,360	31,644	33,536
Livebearers	129	35,210	35,249	23,658
Total Tropical fish	2/ 203	66,570	66,893	57,194
Aquatic Plants	59	14,721	15,384	13,221
1/ Includes area only for growers having sales in 1997. 2/ Total reflects some growers with both egg layers and livebearers.

    Net sales from 59 growers of aquatic plants reached $13.2 million during 1997. This compares with sales of $8.6 million reported by 72 growers in 1995. Aquatic plants include plants for aquariums and farm produced plants used in wetland restoration. Sales for 1997 also include watercress production for food. For the most part, sales in 1995 did not include watercress since most of the crop was shipped out-of-State as young plants. Sales do not include harvest from the wild or resales of plants purchased from other growers. Also, plants imported for immediate resale are not included in the total. Value of aquatic plants for aquariums and farm plants used in wetland restoration have held steady. Seven new growers are expected to produce aquatic plants in 1998.

    During 1997 catfish sales totaled $0.64 million from 42 growers using 639 acres of water surface. These growers expect to use 490 acres in 1998. In addition, there are 14 other growers with intentions to produce catfish in 1998. By comparison, sales reported by 29 growers in 1995 amounted to $0.39 million. Catfish production is concentrated in north Florida and the Panhandle.

    Catfish sold for food in 1997 totaled 434,269 pounds, up sharply from the 157,446 pounds sold for food in 1995. Value of sales for food in 1997was $342,000. The average price was $0.79 per pound, 47 cents per pound less than in 1995. Growers received $295,000 from sales of fingerlings and stocker size fish.

    Combined sales of alligator hides and meat during 1997 declined to $3.19 million compared with $4.50 million in 1995. Twenty growers sold 19,560 hides at an average price of $122 per hide, for a total value of $2.40 million. The number of hides sold in 1997 declined 24 percent from 1995, and the value per hide declined 17 percent from the average of $147 in 1995. Producers also sold 112,822 pounds of meat, about 5.8 pounds per gator for an average of $7.02 per pound or a total of $0.79 million. The 26 active growers reported a total inventory of live gators at 91,800 as of February 1, 1998. This compares with 93,900 on hand February 1, 1996, suggesting a relatively steady level of hide sales. Some hides were harvested but not sold due to relatively low hide prices.

COMMERCIAL ALLIGATOR INVENTORY BY TYPE, FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 1, 1998
Growers	Brood stock	Hatchlings	All other	Total
	Number
26	4,043	33,484	54,259	91,786

    During 1997, Florida growers sold oysters valued at $0.37 million, down from $1.02 million in 1995. Most growers do not seed oysters. They spread shells in the leased area and oysters from the wild lay eggs on the prepared beds. In such a case growers cannot determine the survival rates. Storms continue to pose problems and lead to reduced harvest.

    During 1997 sales of clams produced by Florida growers totaled $12.7 million, more than double the $5.41 million in 1995. The 318 active growers sold 99 million clams in 1997 and averaged 12.8 cents per mature clam sold. The Cedar Key area is the dominant clam producing area. Brevard and Indian River counties continue to provide a good volume of clams. Some recent graduates of clam production training programs began growing clams but some did not sell any during 1997, and graduates of the training program in Charlotte County will soon provide additional production. Production is expected to rise considerably in 1998.

    Seeding in 1998 is expected to increase significantly to 390 million clams if intentions materialize. Survival rate to harvest was reported to average 67 percent in 1997, up from 66 percent in 1995. Improvement in seed quality and grower skills contributed to the improved survival rate in recent years. The survival rate is expected to improve significantly in 1998 if there are no storms and predators can be controlled. A multi-county extension agent in the Big Bend area has provided producers with a resource for training and assistance. Clam hatcheries are providing good "seed" clams for growers.

    There are 64 additional new growers expecting to produce clams in 1998 or later. Of that number, over half are attending the clam production training program in Charlotte County. Production has centered along the east central and northeast coastal counties, but in recent years, graduates of "PROJECT OCEAN" and "PROJECT WAVE" at Cedar Key harvested a significant volume of clams last year off the coast of Dixie and Levy Counties.

    During 1997, tilapia sales totaled $1.07 million. This compares with $1.05 million in 1995. The 1997 sales were reported by 27 growers compared with 22 growers in 1995. Some of the tilapia are produced in leased waters that were formerly phosphate mines. Growth is expected to be steady or show a slight increase. There are ten new growers expecting to start growing tilapia in 1998.

NUMBER OF CLAMS SEEDED BY YEAR SEEDED, FLORIDA
Year seeded	Clams	Survival to harvest
	Thousands	Percent
1996	170,036	66
1997	305,759	67
1998 intentions	390,430	--

    Sales from sport and game fish rose to $1.04 million in 1997. This compares with $1.02 million in 1995. There were 12 growers who reported sales in 1997. Two new producers are expecting to start production in 1998.

    During 1997, sales of other aquatics totaled $12.1 million, up sharply from $4.15 million in 1995. Other aquatics include crawfish, fresh water shrimp, eels and other minor aquatics. Production came from 208 acres of water surface used by 24 growers. There are four new growers expecting to produce some of the above mentioned items in 1998 or later.

CATFISH, ALLIGATORS, OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER AQUATICS, FLORIDA, 1997
Specie	Number of growers	Water surface		Value of sales 1997
		1997	1998 1/
Catfish:	Number	Acres		1,000
Food	29	509	360	342
Other	14	130	130	295
Total	2/ 42	639	490	637
Alligators:
Hides				2,397
Meats				792
Total	26	337	337	3,189
Oysters	11	527	529	366
Clams	3/ 318	1,132	1,146	12,712
Sport/Game fish	12	101	102	1,044
Tilapia	27	2,210	2,212	1,067
Other Aquatics	24	208	208	12,063
Total	4/ 460	5,154	5,024	31,078
1/ Includes area only for active growers in 1997. 2/ Total reflects some growers with both food type and other. 3/ Total does not reflect prospective graduates in Charlotte County. They are expected to graduate in June 1998. 4/ Total reflects some growers with more than one specie.

    Florida aquaculture operators reported working an average of 32 hours/week on their operations during 1997. This compares with 37 hours per week for 1995. Operators in Hillsborough, the leading county with a heavy concentration of tropical fish, averaged 54 hours per week, the same as in 1995 Brevard County, with a heavy concentration of clam producers averaged 32 hours during 1997, no change from 1995. Levy County, with the largest clam concentration, averaged 27 hours per week compared with 23 hours in 1995.

    Aquacultural producers employed 1,061 full-time workers and 442 part-time workers in 1997. This compares with 941 full-time and 244 part-time workers in 1995. In addition there were 446 unpaid workers, primarily, family members, reported in the survey. This compares with 227 unpaid workers reported in the survey for 1995.

AQUACULTURE LABOR REQUIREMENTS, FLORIDA, 1997
Number of farms and workers
Unpaid		Paid full time		Paid part time
Farms	Workers	Farms	Workers	Farms	Workers
282	446	165	1,061	162	442