United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Veterinary Services 

Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health August 2011 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Use of Channel x Blue Hybrid in 

U.S. Catfish Operations 

The use of channel x blue hybrid catfish has become 

widespread in recent years. Improved methods for 

producing hybrid fry have created an opportunity for the 

catfish industry to culture the hybrid on a broad scale. 

Hybrid fingerlings are available for stocking on foodsizefish operations. Attributes that have been associated 

with hybrid catfish include increased growth rates, 

improved yield, and better disease resistance. 

 Issues with channel x blue hybrids center on 

harvesting problems. These fish tend to have smaller 

heads than channel catfish. Consequently, they become 

more entangled in nets during harvest and are less able 

to be sorted by size. As a result, channel x blue hybrids 

are commonly grown in separate ponds from channel 

catfish, and producers typically implement single-batch 

production for these hybrids. 

 In January 2010, the USDA’s National Animal Health 

Monitoring System conducted its third national study of 

the U.S. catfish industry, Catfish 2010. A total of 424 

producers from 4 States participated in the study. These 

four States were divided into two regions. The East 

region was defined as Alabama and Eastern Mississippi; 

the West region was defined as Arkansas, Louisiana, 

and the Mississippi Delta. Results from Catfish 2010 

related to hybrid catfish are presented here. 

Hybrid broodfish and fry

 Operations that maintain blue catfish broodstock 

likely produce channel x blue hybrids. According to 

Catfish 2010, about one-fifth of catfish breeding 

operations (19.4 percent) maintained blue catfish 

broodstock in 2009, twice the percentage in 2002 (fig. 1). 

The percentage of large breeding operations (more than 

2,000 broodfish) that had blue catfish tripled from 

4.9 percent in 2002 to 17.6 percent in 2009. 

0

10

20

30

2009

2002

Small

(2,000 or fewer)

Large

(more than 2,000)

All

operations

15.1

21.1

4.9

17.6

9.2

19.4

Size of Operation (number of broodfish)

Percent

Figure 1. Percentage of breeding operations

that maintained blue catfish lines in 2002 and

2009, by size of operation

 The majority of fry hatched during 2009 were 

channel catfish (87.1 percent), while hybrids accounted 

for the remaining 12.9 percent. More than 90 percent of 

hatcheries produced some channel catfish fry, while 

9.5 percent of hatcheries produced channel x blue 

hybrids. Notably, 6.5 percent of hatcheries produced 

blue catfish fry, but these fry were a negligible 

percentage (less than 0.1 percent) of all fry hatched, 

which might indicate that these fish were to be used as 

broodfish rather than as foodsize fish for market. 

 

Hybrid foodsize fish

 While one of five foodsize fish operations 

(21.2 percent) raised hybrid catfish, hybrids represented 

only 5.9 percent of the inventory on January 1, 2010. A 

lower percentage of the smallest operations 

(1 to 19 surface acres) raised hybrid foodsize catfish 

compared with operations with 20 or more surface acres 

(fig. 2). Regionally, a higher percentage of foodsize fish 

operations in the East region raised hybrid catfish than 

operations in the West region (24.3 and 16.0 percent, 

respectively). 
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

0

10

20

30

40

1 to 19 20 to 49 All

operations

Size of Operation (surface acres)

Percent

Figure 2. Percentage of foodsize-fish 

operations that had any channel x blue hybrid 

catfish present on January 1, 2010, by size 

of operation

50 to 149 150 or 

more

11.9

20.0

27.9

20.7

??

21.2

 Channel x blue hybrid foodsize fish production 

accounted for 7.3 percent of total water surface acreage 

used for foodsize fish in 2009 (table 1). The largest 

operations (150 or more acres) used a lower percentage 

of water surface acres for hybrid production than the 

other-sized operations. A higher percentage of total 

surface water acres in the East region than in the West 

region (10.3 and 5.9 percent, respectively) were used for 

growing foodsize channel x blue hybrids. 

Table 1. Percentage of total water surface acres 

used for foodsize fish, by catfish type, size of 

operation, and region

Percent Total

 Size of Operation (surface acres) Region 

Catfish 

type 1–19 20–49 50–149 

150 or 

more 

All 

operations East West 

Channel 88.6 89.3 83.6 94.5 92.7 89.7 94.1 

Channel 

x blue 

hybrid 

11.4 10.7 16.4 5.5 7.3 10.3 5.9 

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Harvesting hybrid catfish

 In 2009, the majority of foodsize fish operations 

harvested channel catfish (88.3 percent), but 

12.7 percent of operations harvested channel x blue 

hybrids (table 2). The smallest operations (1 to 19 

surface acres) had a lower percentage of operations that 

harvested channel catfish compared with larger 

operations. The percentage of operations that harvested 

channel x blue hybrids was similar between the two 

regions. 

Table 2. Percentage of operations that harvested 

foodsize fish during 2009, by catfish type, size of 

operation (surface acres), and region

Percent Total

 Size of Operation (surface acres) Region 

Catfish 

type 1–19 20–49 50–149 

150 or 

more 

All 

operations East West 

Channel 77.7 90.7 88.7 92.5 88.3 89.6 86.3 

Channel 

x blue 

hybrid 

10.3 8.2 16.2 13.7 12.7 12.1 13.6 

Either 84.6 94.3 97.5 94.3 93.6 94.9 91.5 

 Of the total pounds of foodsize catfish harvested 

during 2009, only 7.7 percent were channel x blue 

hybrids, whereas 92.3 percent were channel catfish. 

Operations with 50 to 149 surface acres had a higher 

percentage by weight of hybrid catfish harvested than 

operations in the other size categories. The percentage 

of pounds of hybrid catfish harvested in the East region 

was more than double that of the West region (11.4 and 

5.1 percent, respectively). 

Table 3. Percentage of total pounds of fish harvested 

in 2009, by catfish type and by size of operation

Percent Harvested

 Size of Operation (surface acres) Region 

Catfish 

type 1–19 20–49 50–149 

150 or 

more 

All 

operations East West 

Channel 92.8 94.7 85.6 93.3 92.3 88.6 94.9 

Channel 

x blue 

hybrid 

7.2 5.3 14.4 6.7 7.7 11.4 5.1 

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

 Overall, the average weight of channel x blue 

hybrids was 2.3 pounds compared with 1.9 pounds for 

channel catfish (table 4). This average is influenced by 

the relatively high average weight of hybrid catfish 

harvested on large operations (2.5 pounds) and in the 

East region (2.7 pounds). This result might be due to the 

potential for hybrids to grow faster and the prevailing 

practice of harvesting hybrids using a single-batch 

method. The average weight of all catfish in the East 

region appeared to be higher than that in the West 

region. 
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Table 4. Average weight per foodsize fish harvested 

in 2009, by catfish type and by size of operation 

Average Weight of Fish Harvested

 Size of Operation (surface acres) Region 

Catfish 

type 1–19 20–49 50–149 

150 or 

more 

All 

operations East West 

Channel 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.9 2.0 1.8 

Channel 

x blue 

hybrid 

1.8 1.9 1.9 2.5 2.3 2.7 1.9 

Total 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.8 

Channel catfish are primarily harvested from 

multibatch systems (84.1 percent operation average, 

and 80.8 percent pounds of fish average). 

For channel x blue hybrids, the primary harvesting 

approach was single batch in which all fish are removed 

from a pond before it is restocked with new fish. The 

operation average* of hybrids harvested by single batch 

was 41.2 percent. In contrast, 81.2 percent of hybrid 

catfish pounds were harvested by single batch. The 

difference between the operation average and the 

percentage of pounds harvested is likely due to 

operations with larger inventories of hybrids harvesting a 

higher percentage of these fish as single batch 

compared with operations with smaller inventories of 

hybrids. 

For channel x blue hybrids, the primary approach 

has been to implement a single-batch harvest. While the 

operation average was only 41.2 percent hybrids 

harvested from single batch, the percentage of pounds 

of hybrids harvested by single batch was 82.1 percent. 

The difference between the operation average and the 

fish percentage is likely due to operations with more 

hybrids using single batch compared with operations that 

raise fewer hybrids. 

Hybrid disease resistance

 Of the 9.0 percent of operations that raised both 

channel catfish and channel x hybrid catfish, the majority 

(85.5 percent) did not know if hybrid catfish were more 

resistant to disease than channel catfish. This might be 

because hybrid production is still relatively new to the 

catfish industry and there has not been enough time to 

adequately assess differences. 

 

 

* The sum of all operation percentages divided by the number of all 

operations.

The percentage of operations that found channel x 

blue hybrids to be more resistant than channel catfish to 

ESC, columnaris, proliferative gill disease, and 

Edwardsiella tarda was at least double the percentage 

that thought channel catfish were more resistant to these 

diseases. Among the diseases, ESC had the highest 

percentage of operations (8.2 percent) responding that 

the hybrid was more resistant than the channel catfish.

Conclusion

 More breeding operations are maintaining the catfish 

lines, which indicate an increasing trend for raising 

hybrid catfish fingerlings. About 1 of 10 producers are 

harvesting channel x blue hybrids. The average weight 

of foodsize hybrid catfish is greater than that of channel 

catfish, and hybrids are more likely to be produced using 

the single-batch method. Some producers perceive the 

hybrid to be more disease resistant than the channel 

catfish. 

_______________________________ 

For more information, contact: 

USDA–APHIS–VS–CEAH 

NRRC Building B, M.S. 2E7 

2150 Centre Avenue 

Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117 

970.494.7000 

Email: NAHMS@aphis.usda.gov 

http://nahms.aphis.usda.gov

#621.0811 

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