Transcript CHANNEL CATFISH CULTURE Channel Catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus ) Native Range of Channel Catfish in the United States.

CHANNEL CATFISH CULTURE
Channel Catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus )
Native Range of Channel Catfish in the United States
Food Habits
Preferred Habitat
Rivers
Reservoirs and lakes
Reproductive Live 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: 21-29 C, with
optimal temperature 24 to 26 C.
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
Catfish are grown in 4 to 10 ha earthen ponds with flat bottoms.
Catfish ponds are filled with either:
Filtered surface
water or rainfall
Well water
Spawning in captivity:
1. Stock adults 3 to 8 years old
2. Stock 1 male to 2 females
3. Stock 800 kg of brooders/ha
female
male
Spawning Containers
Ammo cans
Milk cans
float
Boxes in spawning pond
Wooden box
Spawning occurs during May and June in
the Southeastern U. S. Spawning cans are
checked every 2 to 3 days for spawns.
Hatching Shed
Eggs are transported to a hatching shed.
Eggs are placed in 5-mm square
wire mesh baskets suspended in a
paddlewheel incubator.
Eggs hatch in 5 to 6 days at water
temperatures of 24 to 26 °C.
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
Fry are stocked at 150,000 to 250,000/ha
and grown for 5 months.
Fry are fed powdered, crumbled and
pelleted feeds.
Fingerlings are stocked in fattening
ponds during January to March.
Stocking density is 15,000 to 20,000/ha.
Catfish feed is purchased by the bag or
delivered in bulk and stored in silos.
Floating pellets are
distributed by a feed
blower mounted on a
truck.
Floating pellets
corn
wheat
soybean
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 120 kg/ha/day.
Dissolved oxygen concentration is
checked night and day to assure
that levels remain above 2 mg/l.
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.
Low D. O. can kill catfish within 1 or 2 hours.
Many diseases cause fish mortality.
Birds consume many fish in some regions.
Shoo !
Gas cannon to
scare the birds
Catfish are removed from the pond with a seine
stored on a hydraulic reel powered by a tractor.
Management systems used:
1.
Monoharvest
•
All catfish are removed from the pond when they reach
0.5 to 1.0 kg, 6 to 12 months from stocking.
•
Ponds are drained yearly.
2. Multi-harvest
•
Only catfish larger than 0.5 kg 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.
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 15,000 kg of fish in 1 hour.
Catfish are weighed onto
trucks taking the fish to
the processing factory.
Each basket holds 900 kg
of fish.
scale
Fish are checked for off-flavor 2 weeks, 1 day
and upon arrival at the processor. Off-flavor
fish are not harvested.
Catfish are weighed a second time upon
arrival at the processor. Fish arrive alive.
scale
Catfish are cleaned, filleted and frozen by the processor.
whole
steaks
strips
Fillets and
nuggets
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 %
The catfish industry
maintains a quality
control program to
insure the consumer
a fresh and healthy
product.
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
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
Pond yield
4,000 to 7,000 kg/ha/year
Channel Catfish Growth in Live Weight Processed
and Average Price per Kilogram, 1970 - 2002
YEAR
------1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
1999
2000
2001
2002
* Price
LIVE WEIGHT
PROCESSED, KG
--------------------2,609,545
7,336,363
21,120,000
87,098,181
163,636,360
203,130,000
271,194,000
269,819,540
271,141,272
286,636,810
AVG. PRICE*
PER KG, $US.
----------------0.75
1.09
1.50
1.58
1.69
1.74
1.63
1.65
1.43
1.25
to farmer for fish delivered to the processing plant
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