Commercial catfish operations in the four major producing States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) had 260 million foodsize fish on hand on July 1, 2007, down 11 percent from the July 1, 2006 total of 291 million foodsize fish.
The breakouts of foodsize fish inventory numbers on July 1, 2007, with their respective percent change from the previous year were: large foodsize, 6.19 million fish, down 13 percent; medium foodsize, 67.3 million fish, down 9 percent; and small foodsize, 187 million fish, down 11 percent.
The four major States also had 791 thousand broodfish on hand on July 1, 2007, down 15 percent from last year's 930 thousand broodfish.
The number of large stockers on hand on July 1, 2007, totaled 320 million fish, up 6 percent from the 301 million fish on hand a year ago. There were 326 million small stockers, down 3 percent from last year.
Producers had 1.45 billion fingerlings and fry on hand on July 1, 2007, down slightly from the 1.46 billion fingerlings and fry on hand July 1, 2006. Live weight, at 20.3 million pounds, was down 12 percent from the 23.2 million pounds a year ago.
Water Acres Down three Percent
The water surface area to be used for catfish production during July 1 through December 31, 2007, totaled 151 thousand acres, down 3 percent from a year ago. Acres used for foodsize fish totaled 122 thousand acres, down 2 percent from the same time period in 2006. Acres for broodfish decreased 6 percent to 3.64 thousand acres, and acres used for fingerling production decreased 10 percent to 21.1 thousand acres. Acres taken out of production during the January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2007 period totaled 3.86 thousand acres, while 4.13 thousand acres of the total in production were scheduled to be renovated from July 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. The number of operations on July 1, 2007 in the four major States totaled 713, down 5 percent from last year’s total of 753 operations.
Catfish: Large Foodsize Inventory
Four Major Producing States, July 1
Catfish: Medium Foodsize Inventory
Four Major Producing States, July 1
Catfish: Small Foodsize Inventory
Four Major Producing States, July 1
Catfish: Broodfish Inventory
Four Major Producing States, July 1
Catfish: Stocker Inventory
Four Major Producing States, July 1
Catfish: Fingerling & Fry Inventory
Four Major Producing States, July 1
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