017 



Anonymous. 

 1972. 



What's ahead for catfish. 

 Fish Farming Ind. 3(3): 10-12. 



The article presents some of the comments made by Tennessee 

 Valley Authority (TVA) economist, Carl Madewell # to fish 

 producers. Growth in demand for catfish is discussed, along with 

 advantages to marketers and producers. Data on estimated 

 production indicate an increase from 0.3 million pounds worth 

 $0.1 million in 1960 to 54 million pounds worth $18.9 million in 

 1970. Estimated itemized cost and return information is shown 

 for three kinds of farming operations: catfish in ponds (40-acre 

 farm with 80,000 pounds of output annually), and catfish or tiout 

 in raceways (200,000 pounds of output annually) . In a comparison 

 of catfish pond and raceway operations, feed accounts for about 

 40% and 47% of the annual cost, respectively; fingerlings, 21% 

 and 19%; and annual investment costs (amortized capital costs), 

 18.5% and 9%. Under the specified assumptions, cost per pound 

 (round or whole weight basis) for both systems came to about 34 

 cents, and a survey of actual farm operations in the TVA area 

 revealed costs in the 24- to 71 -cent range, with more than half 

 of the operators achieving a cost of 31 cents per pound or less. 

 Subject descriptors: 



Catfish; production data; revenue; costs; returns; method 

 comparison. 



018 



Ayers, James W. 



1971. 



Marketing problems demand production efficiency and sales 



promotion (The catfish market: problems and promise) . 



Amer. Fish Farmer World Aguacult. News 2(4): 10, 16-17. 



Several ways of improving catfish production and market approach 



are discussed. The growth of catfish farming from more than 250 



acres of water devoted to catfish culture in 1960 to more than 



250,000 acres in 197 1 is cited. The price per pound of catfish 



delivered to a processing plant is about 30 cents while the cost 



of processing the catfish is 65 cents. There are also brokerage 



fees, transportation costs, and markups at the retail level. 



Efficiency in producing, harvesting, transporting, and marketing 



of the finished product is stressed. Causes for most catfish 



processing plants operating at a loss include high expenses for 



operation and overhead, high cost of raw materials, excess labor 



costs, unnecessary mechanical breakdowns, and excess waste of raw 



materials (catfish) . 



Subject descriptors: 



Catfish; marketing. 



