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  **FLORIDA AQUACULTURE SALES TOTAL \$75 MILLION IN 2005**

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Florida aquaculture producers reported sales in 2005 of \$75 million
based upon a survey conducted for the Division of Aquaculture, Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. This biennial survey
was done by the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service in conjunction
with the 2005 National Census of Aquaculture. The Census of Aquaculture
is conducted every five years.

Sales in 2005 were below those of \$95.5 million in 2003, due in large
part to severe losses following the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. There
were 359 operations with appreciable sales, and 351 operations which had
minimal or no sales. Many aquaculture producers were forced out of
business or had no sales in 2005. The operations without sales reflect
either new operations which have not yet sold a product or operations in
business but which did not sell any product in 2005.

+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| **AQUACULTURE - Value of        |                |                  |
| Sales - Florida, 2005**         |                |                  |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Item                            | Operations     | Net Sales        |
|                                 | With Sales     |                  |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Ornamental Fish                 | 133            | \$33,232,000     |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Aquatic Plants                  | 19             | 17,560,000       |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Clams ^1/^ & Oysters            | 153            | 10,694,000       |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Alligators                      | 14             | 4,070,000        |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Other Food Fish ^2/^            | 19             | 1,731,000        |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Catfish                         | 23             | 1,434,000        |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Tilapia                         | 18             | 477,000          |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| Live Rock                       | 6              | 341,000          |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| All Sportfish                   | 8              | 191,000          |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| All Other Aquaculture ^3/^      |               | 5,245,000        |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+
| ^1/^ Includes clam seed         |                |                  |
|                                 |                |                  |
| ^2/^ Hybrid Striped Bass,       |                |                  |
| Largemouth Bass, Carp, and      |                |                  |
| Sturgeon.                       |                |                  |
|                                 |                |                  |
| ^3/^ Includes baitfish,         |                |                  |
| crustaceans, and other          |                |                  |
| aquatics.                       |                |                  |
+---------------------------------+----------------+------------------+

**WATER AREA**

There were 3,010 acres of water used by the 359 operations in 2005. Of
the 359 operations in 2005, 51.5 percent were less than 3 acres in size.
Another 17 percent of the operations each used between 3 and 6 acres
water area. Only 2.5 percent of the operation used more than 50 acres of
water area.

+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| **AQUACULTURE -    |             |                 |                |
| Size of            |             |                 |                |
| Operation**        |             |                 |                |
|                    |             |                 |                |
| **FLORIDA, 2005**  |             |                 |                |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| Acres in           | Water acres | Number of       | Percent of     |
|                    |             | Operations      | Total          |
| Operation          |             |                 |                |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| Less than 3        | 287         | 185             | 51.5           |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| 3 to 5.9           | 270         | 61              | 17.0           |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| 6 to 19.9          | 805         | 79              | 22.0           |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| 20 to 49.9         | 714         | 25              | 7.0            |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| 50 or more         | 934         | 9               | 2.5            |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
| Total              | 3,010       | 359             | 100.0          |
+--------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+

**LABOR**

In 2005, 1,055 people worked on the 359 aquaculture operations. Labor
provided by the operators was an average 31 hours per week per
operation. There were 195 operations which reported a payroll, for a
total payroll of \$12,410,000. There were 158 operations with unpaid
workers. They are typically family members or partners.

+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+
| **AQUACULTURE - LABOR -         |             |                     |
| FLORIDA, 2005**                 |             |                     |
+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+
| Item                            | Farms       | Number of           |
|                                 |             |                     |
|                                 |             | Workers             |
+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+
| Unpaid Workers                  | 158         | 262                 |
+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+
| Paid workers:                   |             |                     |
+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+
| 150 Days or more                | 95          | 478                 |
+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+
| Less than 150 days              | 143         | 315                 |
+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+
| Total                           |             | 1,055               |
+---------------------------------+-------------+---------------------+

![](media/image2.wmf)

**ORNAMENTAL AND TROPICAL FISH**

There were 133 operations that raised ornamental fish in 2005, down from
151 operations in 2003. Sales of ornamental fish were \$33.2 million,
down from \$47.2 million in 2003. This includes 118 farms that raised
tropical fish with sales of \$32.3 million.

**CLAMS AND CLAM SEED**

Sales of clams, clam seed, and oysters were \$10.7 million in 2005 down
from \$13.0 million in 2003. There were 153 operations raising clams and
142 with sales of \$9.8 million, with an average price per clam sold of
10.8 cents. There were 20 operations raising clam seed. Clam sales were
negatively impacted by the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 in Florida's
coastal zone where clams are cultured.

There were 55 clam operators out of business in 2005 which were in
business in 2003. Many respondents commented about losing clams planted
in 2004. Respondents also commented they were having trouble getting
seed to plant in 2006.

+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| **CLAM  |           |                |               |             |
| FARM    |           |                |               |             |
| SALES   |           |                |               |             |
| AND**   |           |                |               |             |
|         |           |                |               |             |
| **CLAM  |           |                |               |             |
| SEED    |           |                |               |             |
| PL      |           |                |               |             |
| ANTED - |           |                |               |             |
| FLORIDA |           |                |               |             |
| 2005**  |           |                |               |             |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| Year    | Farms     | Farms          | Clams Sold    | Sales       |
|         |           |                |               |             |
|         |           | With Sales     | (Millions)    | (Millions)  |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| 2003    | 237       | 192            | 134.0         | \$13.0      |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| 2005    | 153       | 142            | 92.1          | 9.8         |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
|         |           |                | Seed Planted  |             |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| 2002    |           |                | 289,791,000   |             |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| 2003    |           |                | 350,398,000   |             |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| 2004    |           |                | 392,100,000   |             |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| 2005    |           |                | 350,000,000   |             |
| (est    |           |                |               |             |
| imated) |           |                |               |             |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+
| 2006    |           |                | 500,000,000   |             |
| (e      |           |                |               |             |
| xpected |           |                |               |             |
| pla     |           |                |               |             |
| ntings) |           |                |               |             |
+---------+-----------+----------------+---------------+-------------+

Data on the planting or clam seed or survival of clams seeded was
supplemented by additional data collected for the biennial Aquaculture
Survey from a sample of operations which reported clams on the 2005
National Census of Aquaculture.

Survival rate to harvest was reported to average 43.1 percent in 2005.
The cost per clam seed was 0.48 cent.

**AQUATIC PLANTS**

Aquatic plants sales in 2005 were \$17.6 million. These include plants
for water gardens, food markets (watercress), aquariums, and wetlands
restoration. There were 20 operations which reported sales of aquatic
plants. Sales to foreign markets were reported by four operations.

**LIVE ROCK**

Live rock sales in 2005 of \$341,000 were reported on six operations,
down from 2003 sales of \$660,000. Live rock producers lease acreage in
coastal waters off the west coast of Florida and in the Keys. Live rock
production was negatively impacted by the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes.

**SPORT FISH**

There were a total of eight operations that raised sport fish and/or
largemouth bass in 2005, with Sales of largemouth bass totaled \$92,000
and sales of sunfish were \$99,000.

+-----------------------+--------+------------+------------+---------+
| Number range          |        |            |            |         |
| CHAPTER**SPORT FISH,  |        |            |            |         |
| SALES AND NUMBER**    |        |            |            |         |
|                       |        |            |            |         |
| **SOLD - FLORIDA,     |        |            |            |         |
| 2005**                |        |            |            |         |
+-----------------------+--------+------------+------------+---------+
| Specie                | Farms  | Sales      | Number     | Price/  |
|                       |        |            |            |         |
|                       |        |            | Sold       | Pound   |
+-----------------------+--------+------------+------------+---------+
| Largemouth Bass       | 5      | \$92,000   | 74,000     | \$1.28  |
+-----------------------+--------+------------+------------+---------+
| Sunfish               | 8      | 99,000     | 85,000     | 1.16    |
+-----------------------+--------+------------+------------+---------+

**FOOD FISH**

Food fish were raised on 49 operations in 2005. Sales were \$3.6 million
in 2005 . There were 23 farms that sold food size catfish, 18 sold
tilapia, and five with sales of bass or other food fish. Other food fish
(bass, sturgeon, and other food fish) sales were \$1,730,000.

**ALLIGATORS**

Sales of alligator hides, meat and whole alligators reached \$4.07
million in 2005. There were 14 farms raising alligators in 2005, of
which 12 reported sales of alligators or alligator products.

Number range CHAPTER

  ---------------------------------- ------------------ ------------------
  **ALLIGATOR INVENTORY, BY TYPE -                      
  FLORIDA**                                             

  Item                               2006               2004

  Number of producers                14                 13

  Total alligators on hand           56,300             69,000

  Brood Stock                        1,800              3,800

  Hatchlings                         20,600             23,700

  All other                          33,900             41,600
  ---------------------------------- ------------------ ------------------

+-------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| **ALLIGATOR SALES -     |                     |                     |
| FLORIDA,**              |                     |                     |
|                         |                     |                     |
| **2005 and 2003**       |                     |                     |
+-------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| Item                    | 2005                | 2003                |
+-------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| Hides                   | \$2,828,000         | \$1,640,000         |
+-------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| Meat                    | 817,000             | 812,000             |
+-------------------------+---------------------+---------------------+

**MISCELLANEOUS AQUACULTURE**

The sales of other aquaculture production included crustaceans (crabs,
crawfish, fresh water prawns, and shrimp), baitfish and other aquatics
(snails, tadpoles, turtles, and frogs). Total sales of crustaceans,
baitfish and other aquatics were \$5.25 million. There were seven
operations that raised crustaceans and two baitfish operations. There
were three operations that raised frogs, with total sales of \$222,000,
five operations raised turtles with \$125,000 in sales, and nine
operations raised snails with sales of \$151,000.

**2005 Census of Aquaculture**

The 2005 United States Census of Aquaculture is now available. This
report is available on-line at:

[http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2002/Aquaculture/index.asp]{.underline}