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CATFISH
February 18, 2000

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service   |  1222 Woodward Street   |  Orlando, Florida 32803   |  407 / 648-6013


FLORIDA CATFISH

    There were 22 catfish operations in Florida on January 1, 2000. Total water surface area was 390 acres, an increase of 50 acres from 1999. Most of the acreage was for foodsize fish (260 acres) and fingerlings (50 acres).
    Total sales in Florida in 1999 were $1,110,000. The majority of the sales (89 percent) from the operation were to processors.

13 SELECTED STATES

    Catfish growers in the 13 selected States had sales of 488 million dollars during 1999, up 3 percent from the previous year. The top four States, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas, and Louisiana accounted for 96 percent of the U.S. total sales. Nationwide sales of all foodsize fish increased 4 percent from 1998 to 464 million dollars. Fingerlings and fry sales totaled 18.5 million dollars, a decrease of 10 percent from 1998. Sales of stockers totaled 3.64 million dollars in 1999, down from the 7.89 million dollars sold the previous year.
    By point of first sale, direct sales to processors accounted for 95 percent of the total sales of foodsize fish while 78 percent of the stocker sales were to other producers. The remainder were sold for recreational use, to live haulers, or for retail, government, or other uses.
    The water surface acres being used for catfish production as of January 1, 2000, totaled 189,000 acres, up 5 percent from a year earlier. Of the total acres, 6,090 are to be renovated during the period of January 1, 2000 to June 30, 2000. An additional 3,880 acres are under construction or expected to be constructed and in use by July 1, 2000. During the period of July 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999, 3,900 acres were taken out of production. As of January 1, 2000, 152,480 acres were being used for foodfish production, 24,450 acres were being used for fingerling production, and 6,265 acres were being used for broodfish.
    Catfish producers had 1.36 million broodfish on hand January 1, 2000, up 17 percent from January 1, 1999. Large foodsize fish (over 3 pounds per fish) on hand totaled 5.88 million on January 1, 2000, down 36 percent in comparable states from a year ago. The number of medium foodsize (1.50 pounds to 3 pounds per fish) increased 18 percent to 74.5 million, and small foodsize fish (0.75 pound to 1.50 pounds per fish) numbers increased 14 percent to 208 million.
    The number of large stockers (over 180 pounds to 750 pounds per 1000 fish) on hand January 1, 2000, at 358 million, were up 35 percent from the previous year. Small stocker over 60 pounds to 180 pounds per 1000 fish) numbers increased 5 percent to 434 million. There were 1.10 billion fingerlings on hand January 1, 2000, up 12 percent from January 1, 1999.

CATFISH: Utilization of Water Surface Acres Jan 1-Jun 30, 2000, and Acres Taken Out of Production
Jul 1-Dec 31, 1999, by State

State
Water surface acres Utilization of acres, 2000 Taken
out of
produc tion in
1999
Reno- vated New
construct ion
Used for
brood- fish
Jan 1
1999
Jan 1
2000
AL 21,300 22,100 410 230 560 480
AR 31,000 35,000 950 550 1,150 500
FL 340 390 * * * *
LA 13,700 13,500 930 540 260 340
MS 105,000 110,000 3,100 1,900 3,900 1,100
MO 1,600 1,860 * * 45 50
Oth 1/ 7,925 6,380 700 660 350 290
Total 180,865 189,230 6,090 3,880 6,265 2,760
1/ Includes CA, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.
*Included in other states to avoid disclosure.

CATFISH: Number of operations and annual sales
State Number of operations Annual sales
January 1
1999
January 1
2000
1998 1999
Thousand dollars
AL 250 255 61,485 71,124
AR 170 170 56,263 70,582
FL 25 22 * 1,110
LA 98 94 28,554 32,434
MS 400 405 307,229 294,103
MO 35 40 1,908 2,854
Oth 1/ 301 257 19,870 15,977
Total 1,279 1,243 475,309 488,184
1/ Includes CA, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.
*Included in other states to avoid disclosure.

CATFISH: Number and live weight of broodfish, January 1
State Total number of fish Live weight of fish
1999 2000 1999 2000
Thousands
AL 120 138 629 774
AR 180 330 830 1,500
FL * 2 * 11
LA 82 * 449 *
MS 650 780 3,260 3,610
MO 5 * 33 *
Oth 1/ 118 107 532 540
Total 1,155 1,357 5,733 6,435
1/ Includes CA, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.
*Included in other states to avoid disclosure.

CATFISH: Number and live weight of all foodsizes, January 1
State Total number of fish Live weight of fish
1999 2000 1999 2000
Thousands
AL 38,060 39,120 49,460 49,890
AR 41,700 66,900 54,100 86,100
LA 19,240 19,710 28,990 27,950
MS 147,170 154,090 183,780 181,530
MO 1,205 1,870 1,740 2,565
Oth 1/ 7,191 7,096 11,192 12,274
Total 254,566 288,786 329,262 360,309
1/ Includes CA, FL, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.

CATFISH: Number and live weight of total
stockers, January 1 1/
State Total number of fish Live weight of fish
1999 2000 1999 2000
Thousands
AL 53,470 55,440 14,800 13,120
AR 128,000 128,500 23,600 22,500
LA 33,960 32,400 5,280 6,900
MS 450,470 561,500 94,260 134,200
MO 2,990 930 535 375
Oth 2/ 9,792 13,773 2,082 2,840
Total 678,682 792,543 140,557 179,935
1/ Total stockers: Over 60 lbs to 750 lbs/ 1,000 fish.
2/ Includes CA, FL, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Number and live weight of fingerling, January 1 1/
State Total number of fish Total liveweight of fish
1999 2000 1999 2000
Thousands
AL 41,220 54,170 1,770 2,350
AR 185,000 180,000 6,800 6,000
FL 1,340 1,200 22 22
LA 68,180 36,600 1,690 1,030
MS 653,720 805,000 19,940 23,270
MO 13,180 * 160 *
Oth 2/ 23,728 25,230 571 688
Total 986,368 1,102,200 30,953 33,360
1/ Fingerling: Over 2 lbs to 60 lbs/1,000 fish.
2/ Includes CA, GA, KS, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.
*Included in other states to avoid disclosure.

CATFISH: Number,
weight, and value of sales; all stockers
State Number
sold
Total pounds sold Total
sales
Average value per pound
1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999
Thousands Thousand dollars Dollars
AR 7,200 4,000 2,050 800 2,255 928 1.10 1.16
MS 24,132 9,670 3,290 1,070 3,290 1,081 1.00 1.01
Oth 1/ 11,242 10,413 2,282 1,452 2,341 1,632 1.03 1.12
Total 42,572 24,083 7,622 3,322 7,886 3,641 1.03 1.10
1/ Includes AL, CA, FL, GA, KS, KY, LA, MO, NC, OK, TN, SC, and TX.

CATFISH: Foodsize percent sold by outlet type, 1999
State Live-
haul
Fee/
Rec
fishing
Pro-
cess
Retail
rest. &
Fd. Stor
Other
out-
lets
AL 0 2 97 0 1
AR 4 0 93 1 2
FL 0 0 89 0 10
LA 0 0 99 0 1
MS 1 0 99 1 0
MO 63 32 14 * 3
Wt.avg. 1/ 1 .8 1 .1 94 .9 1 .3 0 .9
1/ Includes AL, CA, GA, KS, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.
*Included in other states to avoid disclosure.


CATFISH: Stockers percent sold by outlet type, 1999
State Livehauls Fee/rec fishing Other
producers
Govern- ment Other
outlets
AL 0 * * 0 0
AR 9 0 91 0 0
FL 0 * * * *
LA * * * 0 0
MS 0 0 100 0 0
MO * 32 * * 0
Wt. avg. 1/ 7 .5 11 .6 77 .8 1 .5 1 .6
1/ Includes AL, CA, GA, KS, KY, NC, OK, SC, and TN.
*Included in other states to avoid disclosure.

CATFISH: Number, weight, and value of sales; all foodsize
State Number sold Total pounds sold Total sales Average value per pound
1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999
Thousands Thousand dollars Dollars
AL 46,850 54,800 88,500 103,000 60,180 69,010 0.68 0 .67
AR 40,000 50,000 68,000 87,500 50,320 64,750 0.74 0 .74
LA 26,880 27,800 39,490 44,000 28,038 31,968 0.71 0 .72
MS 286,350 283,100 390,000 385,000 288,600 281,050 0.74 0 .73
MO 1,140 1,270 1,450 2,630 1,102 2,130 0.76 0 .81
Oth 1/ 8,531 7,290 13,925 12,725 17,145 15,545 1.25 1 .22
Total 409,751 424,260 601,365 634,855 445,385 464,453 0.74 0 .73
1/ Includes CA, FL, GA, KS, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Number, weight, and value of sales; fingerling and fry
State Number sold Total pounds sold Total sales Average value per pound
1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999
Thousands Thousand dollars Dollars
AL 16,380 16,200 547 695 1,089 1,501 1.99 2 .16
AR 174,500 87,000 2,200 2,250 3,542 4,608 1 .61 2 .05
FL 1,110 * 28 * 130 * 4 .65 *
LA 14,560 5,600 91 225 188 407 2 .07 1 .81
MS 682,470 523,300 8,720 6,150 14,214 10,922 1 .63 1 .78
Oth 1/ 19,174 15,780 762 416 1,388 1,110 1 .82 2 .67
Total 908,194 647,880 12,348 9,736 20,551 18,548 1 .66 1 .91
1/ Includes CA, GA, KS, KY, MO, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.
*Included in other states to avoid disclosure.


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