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Cultured Aquatic Species Information
Programme
Ictalurus punctatus |
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provided by: Inland Water
Resources and Aquaculture Service (FIRI)
Data
ownership:
This document, provided
and maintained by the Inland Water Resources
and Aquaculture Service (FIRI) under the
ownership of the FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO) ,
is part of the Cultured Aquatic Species
Information Programme data
collection. | |
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http://www.fao.org/figis/servlet/species?code=ITP&xsl=(none)
| Ictalurus
punctatus Rafinesque,
1818
[Ictaluridae] |
| FAO Names: En -
Channel catfish, Fr - Barbue d'Amérique,
Es - n/a | 
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Biological features |
| Cylindrical
body with skin lacking in scales; spots on the sides.
Soft fin rays with exception of dorsal and pectoral fins
which have spines. Adipose fin present. Barbels located
below and at the corners of the mouth, with two barbels
on the dorsal surface of the head anterior of the eyes
and posterior of the snout. Deeply forked caudal fin and
curved anal fin with 24-29 rays.
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Images gallery |
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Catfish pond |
Catfish fry |
Catfish raceway |
Wood spawning
container |
Hatching Catfish |
13-inch catfish (courtesy
www.combat-fishing.com)
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Historical background |
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Interest in channel catfish began when the
United States Fish and Fisheries Commission began
stocking fish collected from the wild in the
1870s. Channel catfish were native primarily to
the Mississippi River Valley but were widely
introduced throughout the nation by the
Commission. Spawning was first achieved in 1890 in
aquaria, at which time it was learned that the
male guards the eggs during incubation. Pond
spawning was first observed in 1914 at a
government hatchery. Spawning nests (nail kegs)
were first used in 1916 and the numbers of
fingerlings produced per stocked female increased.
Indoor hatching of channel catfish eggs in troughs
equipped with paddlewheels to move the water in a
manner that simulates the fanning of the eggs by
the male fish was first accomplished in 1929.
Commercial
aquaculture was first considered to be
economically practical in the late 1950s. Catfish
farming developed rapidly during the 1960s and
1970s as improvements in pond management, disease
identification and control, and prepared feeds
were developed and adopted by farmers. The
commercial industry developed in the southern
United States within the original range of the
species. At least 90 percent of the farmed fish
are produced in the Mississippi River Valley
region. |
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Main producer countries |
| Channel
catfish have been introduced into Europe, Russian
Federation, Cuba and portions of Latin America. The
primary interest in many countries where the fish has
been introduced appears to be recreational fishing,
though there is modest reported production from farming
in other countries, as shown in the following map. In
addition there is also some activity in other countries
such as China and Brazil.
| Main producer
countries of Ictalurus punctatus (FAO Fishery
Statistics,
2002) |
|
Habitat and biology |
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| Channel catfish are native to flowing waters
in temperate environments within North America,
including southern Canada and northern Mexico.
Adults first spawn at two or three years of age.
Spawning in nature occurs in the spring, beginning
in about March in the southern part of the range
and later as latitude increases. Eggs are often
deposited under fallen logs or in some type of
natural depression. The eggs are laid in an
adhesive mass. Females of 0.5-1.8 kg produce an
average of 8 800 eggs/kg of body weight, with
larger females producing an average of 6 600
eggs/kg. Once egg laying and fertilization are
complete, the male will chase the female from the
nesting area and tend to the eggs by fanning the
mass with his fins to keep oxygenated water moving
over them. Depending on temperature, the eggs will
hatch within 5-10 days and the male will continue
to guard the sac fry for several days until the
yolk sacs are absorbed and the fry are able to
swim about in search of food. Channel catfish are
known as opportunistic omnivores in that they will
feed upon a wide variety of plant and animal
matter; that is, virtually anything that is
available. |
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Production cycle |
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Production systems |
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Channel catfish are reared in ponds, cages,
and circular tanks or linear raceways in both the
United States and China. Monoculture dominates in
the U.S., while both monoculture and polyculture
with traditional species such as carp occurs in
China. Formulated feeds are employed in both
nations. The details presented below refer to
channel catfish culture in the U.S.
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Seed supply |
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The majority of channel catfish are grown in
ponds. Spawning occurs in the spring and may be
conducted in open ponds where adults are stocked
at a density ranging from 60-325/ha in ratios
ranging from 1:1 to 1:4 (male:female) and
allowed to select their own mates.
Alternatively, adults may be paired in pens
within a spawning pond. In both instances nests
comprised of metal cans, drain tiles, wooden
boxes or other types of enclosures of
appropriate size are utilized. Eggs may be
allowed to hatch within the spawning pond. In
that case, after the spawning season the adults
are typically removed to another pond. More
commonly, the nests are inspected at three or
four day intervals and any egg masses found are
collected and taken to a hatchery, where the
eggs are incubated in troughs or raceways and
the fry are maintained until they swim to the
water surface in search of food. Fry are often
fed finely ground prepared feed for several days
prior to being stocked in fingerling ponds where
they are reared for several months (often
throughout the first year of life).
Some
farmers specialize in selling fry or fingerlings
to producers of market-sized fish, while others
purchase fingerlings for grow-out; however, many
farmers operate their own hatcheries and
grow-out operations. |
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Ongrowing techniques |
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Ponds
Once the
fingerlings are several centimetres long, they
can be stocked into grow-out ponds. The
traditional approach was to stock a given number
of fish per hectare, grow them until the autumn
of the second year of life, drain the pond, and
harvest the fish for marketing. Since nearly all
the fish produced under that system reached the
market over a limited period of time, the flow
of product to the market was not conducive to
having fresh product available year round. Also,
glutting of the market during the fall led to
depressed prices to producers.
Today, an
intermittent harvesting approach is employed.
Ponds are partially harvested every several
weeks to a few months and marketable fish are
removed. The appropriate number of fingerlings
is then stocked to replace the fish removed.
Thus, various fish sizes are in the pond at the
same time. The process can be maintained for
several years, during which time the ponds are
not drained. Fingerling ponds are often
fertilized, usually with inorganic fertilizer,
in advance of stocking to induce the development
of plankton blooms. Prepared feed fines, and
later crumbles, then standard feed pellets
(about 6 mm diameter) are provided. The feeding
rate may be as high as 50 percent of estimated
fish body weight daily at first feeding but is
gradually reduced as the fish grow. Once the
fish are a few centimetres long they are fed at
3-4 percent of body weight daily during the
growing season. The feeding level is reduced and
feed may even be withheld completely during
winter months.
Water
quality management is critical to pond catfish
production. High stocking densities,
particularly during summer, can lead to stress,
disease, and mortality due to deterioration in
water quality, particularly low dissolved
oxygen. During critical periods ponds are
monitored and emergency aeration is provided
when necessary to maintain dissolved oxygen
levels within an acceptable range (typically
>3.0 mg/litre).
Tanks and Raceways
Channel
catfish are sometimes reared in flow-through
tanks or raceways, indoors or outdoors.
Recirculating system culture has been attempted
over the years but few, if any, economically
successful farms have been developed.
Flow-through raceway and tank culture depends
upon a suitable supply of water of the proper
temperature (ideally 26-30 °C) for grow-out.
Such water temperatures can be obtained from
surface waters in the southern United States,
from geothermal waters in various parts of the
nation, and from co-generation or electric power
generating plants. Production of catfish in such
systems represents a small fraction of the
annual total. The other aspects of tank and
raceway culture are similar to those associated
with pond culture with the exception that much
less land is required, though water quantities
(and thus costs) incurred may be far in excess
of those associated with pond culture.
Cages
Historically,
there has been some interest in rearing channel
catfish in cages placed in streams, lakes or
reservoirs. While some facilities of that type
could still be in operation, their contribution
to total catfish production is insignificant.
Other than the type of culture chambers used,
cage culture practices would be similar to those
used by pond and tank culturists.
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Feed supply |
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The prepared feeds referred to above consist
of various combinations of such plant proteins
such as soybean meal, cottonseed meal, corn
meal, peanut (groundnut) meal, and wheat,
supplemented with vegetable oil, vitamins, and
minerals. Very little, if any animal protein
(e.g. fish meal) is currently employed in
grow-out feeds for channel catfish. National and
international feed companies provide feeds
formulated specifically for catfish, as do many
local feed mills in regions where catfish
culture is concentrated.
The feeds
used in tanks and raceways may be supplemented
with excess levels of vitamins, since natural
foods that can supply those nutrients may not be
available, particularly with regard to indoor
systems (other than
greenhouses). |
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Harvesting techniques |
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| Catfish ponds are partially harvested using
seines of sufficiently large mesh size to allow
sub-marketable fish to
escape. |
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Handling and processing |
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Harvested fish are loaded into live-hauling
trucks and taken to processing plants in regions
where sufficient concentrations of ponds can
support year-round operation of such plants. A
minority of producers process their own fish.
Depending on fish size and market demand, the
fish may be steaked; filleted; or sold headed,
gutted, and skinned. There is not much
value-added processing being undertaken.
Seafood
processors are required to develop and follow
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
(HACCP) programmes, as mandated by the federal
government. Inspectors can visit plants at any
time to determine that the data required for
each HACCP plan are current and complete. At the
retail level, grocery stores and restaurants are
inspected for maintenance of public health
standards. |
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Production costs |
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| The purchase of land and development of
large pond complexes represents the major fixed
cost for catfish farmers. The highest variable
cost is feed, which typically represents 40-45
percent of the cost of operations. In 1960,
channel catfish sold at the farm gate for
approximately US$ 1.10/kg. That figure changed
little over the years, and reached no higher
than about US$ 1.75/kg by the late 1990s. The
price has actually fallen since then, as a
result of competition from imports. For example,
the price paid to growers averaged US$ 1.26
during the first eight months of 2003. A tariff
was placed on imported catfish (basa) from Viet
Nam during summer 2003, but that action did not
translate into higher prices at the farm gate.
The production of channel catfish in Viet Nam
may eventually be another major source of
competition in the U.S. domestic market.
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Diseases and control measures |
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Channel catfish are subjected to a wide
variety of diseases including viruses, bacteria,
fungi, helminths, and parasitic copepods. Some of
the most important disease organisms are included
in the table below.
In some cases antibiotics and
other pharmaceuticals have been used in treatment
but their inclusion in this table does not imply
an FAO recommendation.
| Channel catfish virus disease |
– |
Virus |
Reduced feeding activity; erratic
swimming behaviour, sometimes spiral;
alternating hyperactivity and lethargy; swollen
abdomen; distended vent area; bulging eyes;
haemorrhaging |
No treatment; good management
practices |
| Enteric septicaemia |
Edwardsiella ictaluri |
Bacterium |
Haemorrhages external on underside
and around mouth; white focal lesions on fish
back and sides; occasionally grey lesion on top
of head that can erupt to an open lesion |
Oxytetracycline; sulfamethoxine;
ormetoprin |
| Columnaris disease |
Flavobacterium columnare |
Bacterium |
White spots on mouth, edges of
scales and fins; cottony growth around mouth;
fins disintegrate at edges; 'saddleback' lesion
near dorsal fin; fungal invasion of gills and
skin |
Oxytetracycline; sulfamethoxine;
ormetoprin |
| Aeromonas septicaemia |
Aeromonas hydrophila; A. sobria |
Bacteria |
Fraying and reddening of fins;
de-pigmentation; ulcers |
Oxytetracycline; sulfamethoxine;
ormetoprin |
| Water mould |
Saprolegnia spp. |
Fungi |
Grey/white patches on skin or
gills resembling cotton-wool, later becoming
brown or green; normally small, focal infections
spreading rapidly over body or gills |
Formalin |
| Gill and/or external
parasites |
Trichodina sp.; Trichophora sp.; Ambiphrya sp.; Ichthyobodo sp.; Ichthyophthirius
multifiliis |
Protozoans |
Small white spots on skin or
gills; irritation, flashing, weakness, loss of
appetite, and decreased activity; gills pale and
very swollen |
Formalin |
| Proliferative gill disease |
Aurantiactinomyxon sp.; Dero digitata |
Myxozoans |
Swelling and red and white
mottling of gills gives raw minced meat
appearance |
Formalin |
| Copepod parasites |
Ergasilus sp.; Argulus sp.; Lernaea
cyprinacae |
Copepods |
Visible parasites on gills |
Formalin |
| Other parasites |
– |
Helminths; cestodes;
trematodes |
– |
Formalin |
Prevention
through avoidance of stress on the fish is
probably the most effective means of avoiding
disease. Chemicals are only used when an epizootic
has been detected, and then only for limited
periods of time. Prophylactic chemical use is not
approved by the United States Food and Drug
Administration, which is the agency that approves
therapeutic compounds for use on fish.
Suppliers of pathology
expertise
There are
very few veterinarians in the United States that
specialize in or have much knowledge about fish
diseases. The majority of the expertise resides in
government laboratories and at universities.
Examples are the Harry K. Dupree Fish Farming
Experimental Station in Stuttgart, Arkansas (U.S.
Department of Agriculture); Auburn University,
Auburn, Alabama; and Mississippi State University,
Mississippi State, Mississippi. The latter three
and other universities often have extension agents
based in catfish farming areas who can provide
diagnostic services and recommend treatments,
though faculty on campus may also provide such
services. |
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Production statistics |
|
Global aquaculture
production of Ictalurus punctatus
(Fao Fishery
Statistic) |
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| For
several decades, production of channel catfish was
exclusively by state and federal fisheries agencies. The
fish produced were stocked into ponds, lakes, streams
and reservoirs in several states. In the early 1960s,
commercial aquaculture began, primarily in the southern
United States. Arkansas and Alabama were states where
catfish culture farming was initiated, but within a few
years much of the industry was centred in Mississippi,
which is still the major producing state. Significant
amounts of catfish are also produced in Louisiana and
Alabama. At least 18 states in total have some
production. The concentration of culture operations in
Mississippi was related to a good supply of relatively
shallow ground water of excellent quality and to flat
land with soils that hold water.
By 1965 there were
2 800 ha of catfish ponds in the United States in which
production averaged nearly 700 kg/ha. Pond area
increased to over 16 000 ha by 1970, over 22 000 ha by
1976, and over 36 000 ha by the late 1990s. Improvements
in feed, disease treatment, and overall pond management
led to steadily increasing production rates that reached
nearly 1 400 kg/ha by the 1980s, and has grown modestly
since, with many ponds producing as much as 1 800 kg/ha
today. Intensive culture can produce even higher levels.
Total production peaked at about 270 000 tonnes in 1996
and has remained at about that level.
Channel catfish
were introduced to China in 1984, primarily for domestic
consumption. A small amount is processed and exported to
the United States. Production statistics are not
available at this time.
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Market and trade |
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| The market has been impacted by an influx of
unrelated species of catfish from Viet Nam in
recent years. This has led to intense competition
with domestic channel catfish in the marketplace
to the extent that prices paid to many producers
do not offset production costs. Predictions are
that some producers may be forced out of catfish
farming, though legislation to require country of
origin branding may provide some relief. Country
of origin labelling may aid in moving retail
grocery stores and restaurants towards a
preference for domestic catfish. There is also a
movement by the catfish farmers to encourage
legislation that would place a tariff on imported
catfish. Prices in the marketplace are fairly
stable. |
While the catfish industry is quite mature,
research continues on disease control, nutrition,
genetic improvement, and other aspects associated
with the farming of the species. Research is also
being conducted to reduce the level of nutrients
in pond effluents by developing diets that are
better utilized by the fish.
The future of
the catfish industry in the United States is
unclear. Until the situation with respect to
imported exotic catfishes is resolved, it is
difficult to determine whether the industry will
grow in the future, remain at its current level,
or decline.
The market
for channel catfish in the United States is well
developed. Once considered a product of interest
only in the southern states, catfish can now be
found in restaurants and on menus in grocery
stores throughout the nation. It is seen by
consumers as being a healthy choice food. Market
expansion may be possible through development of
new product forms and value added
processing. |
Since channel catfish are produced almost
exclusively on private land there are few
environmental issues associated with production of
the species. In cases where ponds or intensive
culture facility effluents enter public waters,
there is an issue of eutrophication which is being
addressed, in part, through development of feeds
that are better utilized by the fish. The issue of
potential eutrophication also exists with respect
to cage culture.
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Responsible aquaculture practices |
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Bibliography |
|
| Baisre, J.A. & Castell, J.D. 1991.
Aquaculture in Cuba. World Aquaculture,
22(4):28-35. |
| Esquivel, R.R., Gomes, S.Z., Esquivel, B.M.
& Schlindwein, A.P. 1998. Growth of channel
catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, in southern Brazil.
Journal of Applied Aquaculture, 8: 71-78.
|
| Melotti, P., Gennari, L. & Roncarati, A.
1993. Ictalurus and other introduced species:
Possibilities and prospects in Europe. Paper
presented at Workshop on Aquaculture of Freshwater
Species (except Salmonids). World Aquaculture '93,
Torremolinos, Spain, 24-27 May. World Aquaculture
Society, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
|
| Stickney, R.R. 1994. Principles of
Aquaculture. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New
York USA. 502 pp. |
| Stickney, R.R. 1996. History of Aquaculture in
the United States. John Wiley & Sons, New
York, New York USA. 372 pp. |
| Stickney, R.R. 2000. Encyclopedia of
Aquaculture. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New
York USA. 1063 pp. |
| Tucker, C. 2003. Channel catfish. In Lucas,
J.S. & Southgate, P.C. (eds.), Aquaculture:
Farming Aquatic Animals and Plants, pp. 346-363.
Blackwell Publishing, Oxford,
England |
| U.S. Department of Commerce. 2003. Fisheries
of the United States, 2002. U.S. Department of
Commerce, Washington DC, USA. 126 pp.
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Related links |
| Aquaculture
Certification
Aquafind
Aquamedia
Aquatic Animal
Pathogen and Quarantine Information System -
AAPQIS
Aquatic
Network
Database on
Introductions of Aquatic Species - DIAS
FishBase
FISHSTAT Plus
Universal software for fishery statistical time
series
GLOBEFISH
GROWfish
Network of Aquaculture Centres in
Asia-Pacific - NACA
World Aquaculture
Society -
WAS
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