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CATFISH
February 9, 1999

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

FLORIDA CATFISH

    There were 31 catfish operations in Florida on January 1, 1999. Total water surface area was 340 acres. Of these 340 acres, 30 acres were used for broodfish. Total sales in 1998 were $674,000.

15 SELECTED STATES

    Catfish growers in the 15 selected States had sales of 469 million dollars during 1998. These sales were up 10 percent from the 1997 total of 427 million dollars. Sales of all foodsize fish totaled 441 million dollars and were up 8 percent from last year's total of 407 million dollars. Sales of fingerlings and fry totaled 20.2 million dollars, compared with 15.4 million dollars in sales during 1997. Sale of stockers totaled 7.22 million dollars, up from the 4.03 million dollars sold in 1997.

    Direct sales to processors accounted for 95 percent of the total sales of foodsize fish. Eighty-eight percent of the stocker sales were to other producers.

    The total number of operations on January 1, 1999, in the 15 selected States was 1,340 up 8 percent from the January 1, 1998, total of 1,243.

    The water surface acres being used for catfish production totaled 175,220 acres, up 2 percent from the January 1, 1998, total. Of the total acres, 5,047 are to be renovated during the period of January 1, 1999 to June 30, 1999. An additional 4,985 acres are under construction or expected to be constructed and in use by July 1, 1999. During the period of July 1, 1998 through December 31, 1998, 2,620 acres were taken out of production. As of January 1, 1999, 5,745 acres were being used for broodfish production, 142,830 acres were being used for foodsize production and 23,580 acres were being used for fingerling production.

    Catfish producers had 1.17 million broodfish on hand January 1, 1999, down 1 percent from the 1.19 million on hand January 1, 1998. All foodsize fish on hand totaled 248 million on January 1, 1999, up slightly from a year ago. Of the total number of foodsize fish, 7.14 million were large foodsize (over 3 pounds per fish), 61.7 million were medium foodsize (1.50 pounds to 3 pounds per fish), and 179 million were small foodsize fish (0.75 pound to 1.50 pounds per fish). Total number of stockers on hand January 1, 1999, at 660 million, were up 9 percent from the previous year's 608 million stockers. The breakdown for January 1, 1999 included 255 million large stockers ((over 180 lbs. to 750 lbs.) per 1000 fish) and 405 million small stockers ((over 60 lbs. to 180 lbs.) per 1000 fish). There were 959 million fingerlings on hand January 1, 1999, down 2 percent from the 976 million fingerlings on and January 1, 1998.


CATFISH: Utilization of Water Surface Acres Jan 1-Jun 30, 1998,
and Acres Taken Out of Production Jul 1-Dec 31, 1998, by State

State 		Water surface acres Utilization of acres, 1999 Taken
out of
production in
1998
Renovated New
construction 		Used for
broodfish
Jan 1
1998 		Jan 1
1999
AL 21,800 21,300 330 580 590 250
AR 25,000 25,500 650 500 700 900
FL 150 340 0 0 30 0
LA 13,500 13,600 350 100 360 230
MS 100,000 105,000 4,400 390 3,800 1,600
MO 1,900 1,650 140 50 60 100
Oth 1/ 8,780 7,830 690 170 597 263
Total 171,130 175,220 6,560 1,790 6,137 3,343
1/ Includes CA, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Number of operations and annual sales
State Number of operations Annual sales
January 1
1998 		January 1
1999 		1997 1998
Thousand dollars
AL 245 250 53,740 61,105
AR 165 140 55,510 51,141
FL 14 31 352 674
LA 101 100 30,783 29,438
MS 331 420 265,934 306,764
MO 60 45 2,022 1,894
Oth 1/ 327 354 18,486 18,186
Total 1,243 1,340 426,827 469,202
1/ Includes CA, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Number and live weight of broodfish, January 1
State Total number of fish Live weight of fish
1998 1999 1998 1999
Thousands
AL 142 125 750 655
AR 180 157 830 730
FL 12 24 42 54
LA 33 0 173 0
MS 661 656 3,183 3,300
MO 9 5 46 36
Oth 1/ 150 203 664 1,036
Total 1,187 1,170 5,688 5,811
1/ Includes CA, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Number and live weight of all foodsizes, January 1
State Total number of fish Live weight of fish
1998 1999 1998 1999
Thousands
AL 40,522 38,154 54,038 49,858
AR 32,460 32,166 44,590 42,129
LA 20,815 19,610 31,045 29,555
MS 145,346 149,951 174,408 184,013
MO 1,231 1,213 1,833 1,762
Oth 1/ 7,562 6,500 10,409 10,522
Total 247,946 248,223 316,347 318,656
1/ Includes CA, FL, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Number and live weight of total
stockers, *January 1
State Total number of fish Live weight of fish
1998 1999 1998 1999
Thousands
AL 44,071 52,685 13,473 14,665
AR 102,600 109,878 19,650 19,535
LA 37,080 34,880 8,370 5,425
MS 406,635 450,963 92,556 94,426
MO 1,674 2,981 488 531
Oth 1/ 15,818 8,686 3,546 1,822
Total 607,878 660,073 138,083 136,404
*Total stockers: Over 60 lbs to 750 lbs/ 1,000 fish.
1/ Includes CA, FL, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.

CATFISH: Number and live weight of fingerling, *January 1
State Total number of fish Total liveweight of fish
1998 1999 1998 1999
Thousands
AL 30,287 41,268 1,282 1,772
AR 175,500 156,213 4,850 5,824
FL 2,235 1,394 18 22
LA 59,360 68,780 1,375 1,705
MS 664,878 654,812 20,209 19,972
MO 10,718 13,245 199 162
Oth 1/ 32,564 23,343 789 566
Total 975,542 959,055 28,722 30,023
* Fingerling: Over 2 lbs to 60 lbs/1,000 fish.
1/ Includes CA, GA, KS, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Number, weight, and value of sales; all stockers
State Number
sold 		Total
pounds sold 		Total
sales 		Average value
per pound
1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
Thousands Thousand dollars Dollars
AR 8,100 6,979 1,600 1,966 1,784 1,962 1.12 1.00
MS 6,251 24,162 800 3,288 804 3,280 1.01 1.00
NC 85 105 9 32 26 35 2.89 1.09
SC 452 152 132 46 73 61 0.55 1.33
Oth 1/ 8,562 9,751 1,037 1,786 1,340 1,885 1.29 1.06
Total 23,45 41,149 3,578 7,118 4,027 7,223 1.13 1.01
1/ Includes AL, CA, FL, GA, KS, KY, LA, MO, OK, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Foodsize percent sold by outlet type, 1998
State Livehaul Fee/Rec
fishing 		Process Retail rest. &
Fd. Stor 		Other
outlets
AL 0 2 96 0 2
AR 3 0 97 0 0
FL 0 0 96 3 1
LA 0 0 94 0 0
MS 0 0 99 0 1
MO 71 14 4 1 10
Wt.avg. 1/ 1 .3 1 .1
94.8
1 .2
1.6
1/ Includes AL, CA, GA, KS, KY, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.


CATFISH: Stockers percent sold by outlet type, 1998
State Livehauls Fee/rec
fishing 		Other
producers 		Government Other
outlets
AL 0 0 0 0 0
AR 2 0 97 0 1
FL 18 0 0 0 82
LA 0 0 0 0 0
MS 2 0 100 0 0
MO 29 9 60 2 0
Wt. avg. 1/ 4 .9 2 .1 87 .5 0 .8 4 .7
1/ Includes AL, CA, GA, KS, KY, NC, OK, SC, and TN.


CATFISH: Number, weight, and value of sales; all foodsize
State Number sold Total pounds sold Total sales Average value
per pound
1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
Thousands Thousand dollars Dollars
AL 34,407 46,850 77,416 88,500 52,643 59,800 0.68 0.68
AR 48,000 38,030 72,000 64,500 50,400 45,800 0.70 0.71
LA 30,600 27,710 45,000 40,000 30,150 28,920 0.67 0.71
MS 268,700 286,350 360,000 390,000 255,600 288,600 0.71 0.74
MO 810 1,142 1,504 1,450 1,136 1,100 0.76 0.76
Oth 1/ 9,269 7,693 13,659 13,191 16,872 16,518 1.24 1.25
Total 391,786 407,775 569,579 598,541 406,801 440,738 0.71 0.74
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
1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
Thousands Thousand dollars Dollars
AL 45,525 16,378 500 547 1,025 1,088 2.05 1.99
AR 107,000 167,019 2,300 2,030 3,172 3,247 1.38 1.60
FL 7,338 1,140 59 29 351 170 5.95 5.86
LA 9,760 14,560 95 92 195 189 2.05 2.05
MS 364,375 683,629 5,909 8,735 9,183 14,233 1.55 1.63
Oth 1/ 15,163 16,927 484 647 1,471 1,313 3.04 2.03
Total 549,161 899,653 9,347 12,080 15,397 20,240 1.65 1.68
1/ Includes CA, GA, KS, KY, MO, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX.

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