Hybrid catfish project summary

At a glance

This project studies the benefits of hybrid catfish over channel catfish produced on small and medium size farms in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. These hybrids have several advantages including improved capture by seining, resistance to bacterial disease and tolerance to low-oxygen conditions. These have the additional advantage of allowing producers to harvest the fish without draining the pond annually, conserving water and protecting the environment.

Objectives

Our objectives will determine possible benefits hybrid catfish have over channel catfish under conditions generally encountered on small and medium size farms, including those using watershed ponds. Using a multi-disciplinary team from Alabama, Florida and Georgia, we will determine the economic consequences of small farm catfish production options that contrast the hybrid and channel catfish.

Commercial catfish farms in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia have been identified by project investigators. These farms will provide examples of environmental conditions in the tri-state area. Program area 15 of IFAFS, Farm Efficiency and Profitability, will be addressed by this proposal.

Characteristics studied

Characteristics of the blueXchannel hybrid including improved capture by seining, resistance to bacterial disease, and tolerance to low concentrations of dissolved oxygen should allow better stewardship of the pond environment and watershed ecology while improving farm profitability. Watershed ponds are often utilized for catfish production and harvest of channel catfish is difficult unless those ponds are at least partially drained.

Ponds currently constructed could be utilized as an income source for the farm. Efficient harvest of hybrid catfish from ponds without the need to drain the pond could improve economics of catfish production and conserve water that is currently drained from the pond each year at harvest.

Timeline

In Year 1, channel catfish and the hybrid will be compared at the three cooperating institutions. Meetings with producer cooperators will be held in the first quarter of the study to coordinate protocols for evaluating hybrid catfish and pond water management on their farms. Correlations to pond average depth will be made for relative capture success by seining, catfish weight gain, feed utilization efficiency, and water budget parameters.

In Year 2, review of protocols and restocking will occur in the first quarter. Water budgets for ponds will be determined by measuring pond water level, rainfall, well water addition, and pond outflow. Economic data will be collected in order to directly compare costs and returns for the hybrid and the channel catfish and observations of any economic effects related to different water use practices. The Cooperative Extension Service systems in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia will be utilized for information dissemination.