Heavy rainfall and winter feeding tend to add up to conditions that can lead to brown blood disease in the spring. Brown blood is caused by the buildup of nitrates in ponds, which produces a result similar to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Unlike the red meat and poultry processing industries, catfish processing does not fall under the regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Before a catfish processor begins operation, however, he must contact local county health officials to comply with county health regulations and to obtain a health permit.

Catfish is now the fourth most popular seafood product in the U.S. The catfish processing industry has grown dramatically to keep up with the increasing demand.

This list is comprised of contact information for catfish experts within the LSU Agricultural Center and the LSU - Baton Rouge campus.

Feeding is the most important task in the intensive pond production of catfish, and the person responsible for feeding should be an experienced fish culturist.

The success of channel catfish culture depends on maximizing production in a cost-effective manner.The greatest costs are those associated with feed and feeding. Producers and researchers are constantly seeking new ways of lowering these costs. One way of reducing feed costs is to take advantage of the phenomenon of compensatory growth.

Channel catfish, like all other animals, require a supply of vitamins for normal growth and health. By definition, vitamins are nutrients required to support growth and other bodily functions.

It is important to purchase the best available catfish fingerlings when stocking commercial production ponds. Poor quality can result in delayed harvesting, underestimated stocking weights and disease transmission to fish already present in the pond. Fingerling quality is judged on grading, strain, health, and the supplier's reliability.

Channel cattish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), is the most important species of aquatic animal commercially cultured in the United States.

Catfish of the proper size are sold iced, frozen, or battered and breaded in the following forms: whole; dressed (deheaded, eviscerated and skinned); filleted; steaked; or as strips or nuggets.

The commercial production of catfish in the United States has increased at a phenomenal rate in the last three decades. By 1997, channel catfish culture was the largest aquaculture industry in the United States, with catfish production representing 72 percent (by weight) and 55 percent (by value) of the entire industry (U.S. Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture 1999).

Channel catfish require adequate protein in their diet for good growth and weight gain. Within certain limits, catfish grow faster as the protein content of their diet is increased. But when more protein is provided by the diet than fish can use for growth, the excess is used inefficiently as a source of energy or is lost through excretion.

During the summer and early fall, it is not unusual for fish kills to occur in commercial ponds under uncertain circumstances.

To reduce losses caused by hungry birds, aquaculture farmers spend as much as $100,000 a year on abatement programs. Now, two LSU AgCenter agricultural engineers have developed robotic boats to keep these predators out of commercial ponds.

Proper design and construction of ponds is critical to the success of a commercial catfish operation. Well-designed ponds, constructed on soil with proper clay content and adequate water supply, have a useful life of at least 10 years.

Considerable thought and planning should go into selecting sites for commercial fish production ponds. Construction costs, ease and cost of operation, and productivity can be greatly affected by the site selected.

To be profitable, an aquaculture pond must be sited properly and designed for efficiency. An inaccessible location, leaks in the pond, poor seining conditions, or lack of good quality water will doom an aquaculture enterprise to failure.

Nine aquaculture research projects recently received nearly $293,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grants will be used to support research with catfish, crawfish, hybrid striped bass, alligator and freshwater drum.

Although many catfish producers rely on commercial hatcheries for fingerlings, onsite fingerling production is an important part of many operations. The tips below address channel catfish fry production in the hatchery and managing ponds for rearing fry into fingerlings.