Catfish farming has been a source of revenue for farmers in America since the 1960s. Catfish farming is a thriving business that is popular mostly in southern states but there are profitable catfish farms in northern states as well. Catfish farmers breed and raise catfish to sell to grocery stores, restaurants, local residents, and pay lakes that stock them for fishing or other purposes. Channel catfish are the most commonly farmed catfish in the United States.
In order to successfully farm channel catfish, the farmer can choose from three proven systems to keep the catfish healthy and contained. The first of these systems is the use of a watershed pond. These are constructed on steep slopes by building a dam across a ravine that catches runoff water. They are usually built with a fairly flat bottom as those are the best for commercial catfish farming. Farmers avoid weed problems by keeping water depth at a minimum of about four feet. A disadvantage to most watershed ponds is the lack of control over refill. One way that farmers have found to get around this is to build a series of ponds, one above the other. The lowest pond is harvested first, so as higher ponds are drained they fill the one below.
The second method of farm raising catfish is through the utilization of cages. Cages are used to grow catfish in existing ponds and lakes where harvesting loose stocked fish would be difficult or impossible. Farmers stock catfish into cages at eight to ten fish per cubic foot and grow them to a size of about two pounds. Catfish do well in cages provided that they are not disturbed, the cage mesh does not become clogged with algae and no more than one thousand pounds of fish per surface acre of pond are grown. Farmers must keep the pounds grown per surface acre must be kept low to reduce the chance of low oxygen conditions. Catfish crowded in cages will die at low oxygen levels that do not seriously affect loose stocked catfish.
Levee ponds are the third system used by catfish farmers. Levee ponds are constructed by building earthen levees on all four sides of a relatively flat area to hold from 4 to 6 feet of water. Water is usually supplied from a well and the ponds are built to be self-draining. Up to 4,500 fish per surface acre of levee pond can be grown if aeration equipment is used and the catfish are harvested from 1 ½ to 2 pounds in size.
It takes a great deal of knowledge and many long hours to manage a catfish farm. Catfish are susceptible to sickness and poor production if poorly managed so the farmer must closely watch how the fish are feeding and the condition of the water both by test equipment and color. During the summer, farmers will conduct nightly rounds to monitor oxygen levels and the aerate ponds to keep the fish healthy.