While catfish remains a beloved staple on Southern dinner tables, growth in the Texas catfish aquaculture industry remains stagnant amid numerous challenges, according to an expert with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
Over the past two decades, stagnant market prices, changing consumer preferences, increased production costs, and foreign competition have slowed growth potential.
Over the past 25 years, farm-gate prices for catfish have ranged from 80 cents to $1.20 per pound, said Dr. Todd Sink, an AgriLife Extension aquaculture specialist and associate professor in the Department of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M. Department of Range, Wildlife and Fisheries Management.
At the same time, catfish feed prices have more than doubled, from $250 per ton in 1996 to $525 per ton in 2023.
Sink said producers will earn about $1.16 per pound this year, while production costs range from 98 cents to $1.03 per pound.
“Profit margins are very low, and tens or hundreds of thousands of fish must be sold each year to support the farm enterprise,” Zink said. “Catfish is a product that has not experienced the same market growth with inflation as other products.”
Consumer preferences continue to shift
The key driver of this trend, seen not only in the U.S. aquaculture industry but around the world, is changing consumer preferences.
“People became more affluent, and their tastes in fish changed over time,” Zink said. “Catfish is considered a lower value fish and now people are more likely to choose species they consider higher value, such as red kingfish, hybrid striped bass, kingfish and red sea bream from Europe.”
As a result of this changing perception and stagnant market prices, many catfish producers have either exited the industry or switched to different aquaculture species, Zink said.
Initially, catfish farming focused primarily on the channel catfish species. While native blue catfish, white catfish, flathead catfish and bullhead catfish are also being considered for aquaculture, Zink said they are nowhere near as good as channel catfish in terms of food fish production.
Efforts to exploit hybrid vigor, including improved growth rates and disease resistance, led to the development of blue channel catfish hybrids used primarily in the food fish industry today.
Texas catfish production capacity
According to the USDA Catfish Production Survey, the top four catfish-producing states — Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas — accounted for 96%, or $419.5 million, of total U.S. sales in 2023.
Texas' 1,500 acres of catfish production, primarily located in the Gulf Coast Plain and along the Red River in the northeastern part of the state, accounted for $22.8 million in sales.
While Texas ranks among the top four in catfish production, it lags far behind Mississippi, the recognized leader in catfish farming, with 33,100 acres and sales of more than $250 million.
While Texas may not be the largest producer, the state does maintain an advantage that Zink said remains unexplained.
“Texas produces more catfish per acre than most of the top producing states,” Zink said. “In most states, producers can plant 10,000-12,000 pounds per acre, but we typically plant 16,000 pounds per acre. We’ve never been able to accurately explain the factors behind that.
Zink said some producers in Texas have raised yield caps to more than 20,000 pounds per acre, but that often leads to increased disease and water quality problems.
Recent legislative aid to the industry
For years, federal legislation has helped U.S. catfish producers compete with foreign imports and prevent catastrophic losses.
In the mid-2000s, Congress passed legislation mandating proper labeling of imported fish, a move that significantly increased demand for domestically produced catfish.
Aquaculture producers who produce food fish are also now eligible for assistance under USDA’s Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Bees and Farmed Fish, which is designed to help production that has been lost due to disease or severe weather events such as flooding and extreme heat. By.
“This helps catfish and other aquaculture producers tremendously,” Zink said. “Prior to this, food fish aquaculture did not have the same disaster protections as other commodities such as corn, cotton or cattle.”
Outlook for Texas Catfish Production
Zink doesn't expect the catfish industry to grow, but he also doesn't expect the industry to shrink.
Zink said for existing catfish producers, incorporating sport fish production into their farms could diversify their operations and bring financial benefits.
“Texas has 1.3 million ponds, and catfish have never fallen out of favor as a recreational fish that people want to keep in their ponds,” Zink said. “The main thing people stocking farm ponds want are the original channel cattails they grew up with.”
Zink said one producer he knows grows channel catfish in the state instead of hybrid catfish for exactly this reason.
“A lot of our other food fish industries don't have that option as another outlet, but the catfish industry does,” Zink said. “Demand for pond stocking is helping some producers stay strong.”
