Catfish
Processing
National
Agricultural
Statistics
Service
 
USDA
Washington, D.C.
 
 Released April 22, 1999, by the National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of
Agriculture. For information on "Catfish Processing" call John Lange
(202) 720-0585 or Mike Barker at (202) 720-3243, office hours 7:30 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. ET.
 
 
 
 
 
 
                  Catfish Processing Up 5 Percent
 
 
Farm-raised catfish processed during March totaled 56.3 million pounds
round weight, up 5 percent from March 1998. The average price paid to
producers was 73.2 cents per pound for March 1999, up 1.8 cents from
last month, but 4.8 cents below a year ago. Note: Beginning January
1999, the Average Price Paid to Producers will be published to the
nearest tenth of a cent.
 
 
Net pounds of processed fish sold during March 1999 totaled 28.5 million
pounds, up 9 percent from the comparable month in 1998. Sales of fresh
fish, at 12.0 million pounds, were up 7 percent from March 1998 and
represented 42 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales, at 16.6
million pounds, were up 10 percent from a year ago and accounted for the
remaining 58 percent of total fish sales. Sales of whole fish
represented 20 percent of the total fish sold, fillets accounted for 61
percent, and the remaining 19 percent were mostly steaks, nuggets, and
value added products.
 
 
The March 1999 average price received by processors for total fresh fish
was $2.15 per pound, down 6 cents from last year. Prices for fresh whole
fish were $1.57 per pound, down 6 cents from last year. Prices for fresh
fillets were down 9 cents at $2.76 per pound. Total frozen fish averaged
$2.44 per pound, 5 cents below March 1998. Prices for frozen whole fish
were down 3 cents at $1.95, while frozen fillets at $2.71 per pound were
down 3 cents from $2.74 a year ago.
 
 
Freshwater catfish imports for February 1999 totaled 53.0 thousand
pounds, up sharply from the amount reported last February. Vietnam
accounted for 62 percent of the imports in February, Guyana 33 percent,
and Canada 5 percent. Exports reported for February 1999 totaled 22.9
thousand pounds, of which 58 percent went to Germany and the remaining
42 percent going to Japan. Import and export data are compiled by the
U.S. Bureau of Census.
 
 
 
 
Aq 1 (4-99)
 
Farm-Raised Catfish:  Quantity Processed and Prices Paid to Producers
      by Major Processors, and United States Imports, 1998-99
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      :       Round Weight Processed       :   Average Price  :   Imports
      :------------------------------------:      Paid to     :      of
Month :      Monthly     :   Cumulative    :   Producers 1/   :  Catfish 2/
      :-----------------------------------------------------------------------
      :   1998  :  1999  :  1998  :  1999  :   1998  :  1999  :  1998 : 1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      :  ---------- 1,000 Pounds --------   Dollars Per Pound   (000) Pounds
      :
Jan   :  46,723   48,723   46,723    48,723     .69     .703       91     57
Feb   :  47,606   48,891   94,329    97,614     .73     .714        9     53
Mar   :  53,761   56,310  148,090   153,924     .78     .732       99
Apr   :  49,393           197,483               .79                82
May   :  45,218           242,701               .79               208
Jun   :  46,244           288,945               .78               193
Jul   :  46,383           335,328               .76               195
Aug   :  47,739           383,067               .74               132
Sep   :  46,579           429,646               .73                21
Oct   :  47,904           477,550               .71                92
Nov   :  43,224           520,774               .70               174
Dec   :  43,581           564,355               .70                90
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/  Price for fish delivered to processing plant door.  Price includes charges
    for any services provided by the processing plant, such as seining and
    hauling, but does not include any adjustments based on year-end
    settlements.
2/  Data furnished by U.S. Bureau of Census.
 
 
    Catfish Processors:  Sales Volume, Average Price, and Ending
              Inventory, United States, March 1998-99
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :      Sales        :     Average     :      Ending
                      :      Volume       :      Price      :    Inventory
      Item            :-------------------------------------------------------
                      :   1998  :   1999  :  1998  :  1999  :  1998  :  1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :    1,000 Pounds    Dollars Per Pound    1,000 Pounds
Fresh                 :
 Whole Fish           :
  Round & Gutted      :
   Only               :  1,238     1,443     1.05     1.07       1/       1/
  Whole Dressed       :  3,070     3,024     1.84     1.78       1/       1/
  Total               :  4,308     4,467     1.63     1.57      230      180
                      :
 Other                :
  Steaks              :    100        90     2.03     2.03        8       1/
  Nuggets             :  1,358     1,452     1.41     1.35      134       83
  Other 2/            :    263       200     3.24     3.18        3       1/
  Total               :  1,721     1,742     1.72     1.59      145       84
                      :
 Fillets 3/           :  5,130     5,768     2.85     2.76      391      393
                      :
 Total Fresh          : 11,159    11,977     2.21     2.15      766      657
                      :
Frozen                :
 Whole Fish           :
  Round & Gutted      :
   Only               :
  Whole Dressed       :  1,311     1,320     1.98     1.95    1,088      969
  Total               :  1,311     1,320     1.98     1.95    1,088      969
                      :
 Other                :
  Steaks              :    185       135     1.87     1.81      141      119
  Nuggets             :  1,987     2,197     1.34     1.25    1,246    1,480
  Other 2/            :  1,363     1,448     2.81     2.64      781      850
  Total               :  3,535     3,780     1.94     1.80    2,168    2,449
                      :
 Fillets 3/           : 10,202    11,467     2.74     2.71    5,134    4,940
                      :
 Total Frozen         : 15,048    16,567     2.49     2.44    8,390    8,358
                      :
Total Fresh & Frozen  : 26,207    28,544     2.37     2.32    9,156    9,015
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/  Not published to avoid disclosure of individual operations.
2/  Includes all products not already reported, including weight of breading
    and added ingredients.
3/  Includes regular, shank, and strip fillets; excludes any breaded product.
 
                    Catfish Processing Estimates
 
Survey Procedures:  Survey data for catfish processing are collected from
                    approximately 25 processors.  All participating processors
must meet the minimum criteria of having a capacity to process at least
2,000 pounds live weight of catfish per 8-hour shift.  The survey is conducted
entirely by NASS Headquarter's staff in Washington, D.C.  NASS field offices,
however, are responsible for keeping Headquarters informed of any new processing
operations in their state to ensure that the survey coverage is as complete as
possible.  Processors are contacted either by mail or telephone.  Diligent
effort is made to ensure that all operations are accounted for in the estimate.
 
 
Estimation Procedures:  The "Catfish Processing" report refers strictly to farm-
                        raised fish and excludes wild capture fish.  Prior to
summarization, questionnaires are compared with the previous month's reports for
comparable placement of data, reasonable price levels, and reasonable inventory
carryover given the sales and processing totals reported.  Estimates are made
for those processors whose reports are not available in time to be included in
the release.  These plants are identified by an asterisk on page 5 of this
release.  Estimates are normally based on the processor's previous report and
current conditions.  Published totals are a straight summation of the individual
reports and estimated data.  Price items are weighted by the associated volumes
to compute weighted average prices.  The published price for total whole fish,
however, reflects an adjustment to the round and gutted only price to bring it
to an equivalent dressed weight price.
 
If a plant uses a fiscal accounting system, proration is used to convert
reported data to a calendar month basis.  Only national level estimates are
published due to the limited number of plants involved.  Generally, individual
items are not published if there are less than three plants reporting, or if any
one plant has 60 percent or more of the total.
 
One unique feature of the "Catfish Processing" report is the listing of
cooperating processors by name on each month's release.  This feature originally
was used to solicit industry cooperation in maintaining coverage, but it has
continued because of the processors' overall acceptance of this policy.
 
Import and export data for frozen catfish fillets, which are compiled by the
Department of Commerce, are also included in this report.
 
 
Reliability:  Catfish processing estimates are based on a census of all known
              active  processors and, therefore, have no sampling variability.
However, estimates may be subject to errors such as omissions, duplication, and
mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing of the data.  These errors are
minimized through strict quality controls in the edit and summarization process,
and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness.
 
 
Revision Policy:   Revisions may be necessary following a review of late
                   reports received from plants.  Revisions of less than
2 percent of the existing published levels of any category will normally not be
made.
 
Definitions Used For Catfish Processing:
 
 
Average Price Paid to Producers - Refers to the price of fish delivered to
                                  the processing plant door.  Price
includes charges for any services provided by the processing plant, such as
seining and hauling, but does not include any adjustments based on year-end
settlements.
 
Fillets - Boned sides of the fish, cut lengthwise away from the backbone.
 
Fresh Fish - Fish intended for immediate consumption.  Also referred to as
             ice-packed.
 
Frozen Fish - Fish which are individually quick frozen and glazed (IQF) or
              individually bagged and bulk frozen.
 
Nuggets - Small fillets cut from below the rib section of the fish.  Usually
          includes breading or added ingredients.
 
Round & Gutted Only - Fish with no processing done or viscera only removed.
 
Round Weight - A term for fish live weight.
 
Steaks - Cross-section cuts from larger dressed fish.
 
Strips - Finger size pieces of fish cut from fillets.  Usually includes breading
         or added ingredients.
 
Whole Dressed - Weight of whole fish with only head, viscera, and skin removed.
                Generally, 60 percent of the live weight remains as dressed
                fish.
 
 
Processing data were compiled in cooperation with the following processors:
 
 
 America's Catch                          Heartland Catfish
 Amite River Industries                   Lake's Farm Raised Catfish, Inc.
 Aqua Farm Catfish                        Plantation Fisheries
 Carolina Classics Catfish, Inc.          Pride of the Pond
 Confish Inc.                             Pride of the South Catfish Co.
 Delta Pride Catfish, Inc.                Prime Line Catfish Co
 Farm Fresh Catfish Co.                   Seabrook Seafood, Inc.
 Fast Catfish                             Simmons Farm-Raised
 Fish Breeders of Idaho                   Southern Farm Fish Processors
 Franklin Catfish                         Southern Pride
 Freshwater Farms, Inc.                   Southfresh Farms
 Guidry Catfish Processors, Inc.          Superior Fish Processors
 Harvest Select
 
* Estimated
The next "Catfish Processing " report will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET
 on May 20, 1999.
 
 
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits
discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race,
color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political
beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all
prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who
require alternative means for communication of program information
(braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA's TARGET
Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).
 
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or
TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
 
 
 
 
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