Catfish
Processing
National
Agricultural
Statistics
Service
 
USDA
Washington, D.C.
 
 
Released January 21, 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 8 Percent
 
 
Farm-raised catfish processed during December totaled 43.6 million
pounds round weight, up 8 percent from December 1997. The average price
paid to producers was 70 cents per pound for December 1998, unchanged
from last month, but 1 cent above a year ago.
 
 
Net pounds of processed fish sold during December 1998 totaled 21.1
million pounds, up 16 percent from the comparable month in 1997. Sales
of fresh fish, at 8.31 million pounds, were up 7 percent from December
1997 and represented 39 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales, at
12.8 million pounds, were up 22 percent from a year ago and accounted
for the remaining 61 percent of total fish sales. Sales of whole fish
represented 20 percent of the total, fillets accounted for 60 percent,
and the remaining 20 percent were mostly steaks, nuggets, and value
added products.
 
 
The December 1998 average price received by processors for total fresh
fish was $2.12 per pound, up 4 cents from last year. Prices for fresh
whole fish were $1.52 per pound, up 2 cents from last year. Prices for
fresh fillets were up 2 cents at $2.73 per pound. Total frozen fish
averaged $2.32 per pound, 3 cents below December 1997. Prices for frozen
whole fish were up 9 cents at $1.97, while frozen fillets at $2.60 per
pound were up 2 cents from $2.58 a year ago.
 
 
Freshwater catfish imports for November 1998 totaled 173.6 thousand
pounds, up 44 percent from the amount reported last November. Vietnam
accounted for 52 percent of the imports in November, Brazil 25 percent,
Guyana 15 percent, and Canada 8 percent. No exports were reported for
November 1998. Import and export data are compiled by the U.S. Bureau of
Census.
 
 
 
Aq 1 (1-99)
 
Farm-Raised Catfish:  Quantity Processed and Prices Paid to Producers
      by Major Processors, and United States Imports, 1997-98
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      :       Round Weight Processed       :   Average Price  :   Imports
      :------------------------------------:      Paid to     :      of
Month :      Monthly     :   Cumulative    :   Producers 1/   :  Catfish 2/
      :-----------------------------------------------------------------------
      :   1997  :  1998  :  1997  :  1998  :   1997  :  1998  :  1997 : 1998
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      :  ---------- 1,000 Pounds --------   Dollars Per Pound   (000) Pounds
      :
Jan   :  42,409   46,723   42,409    46,723     .73     .69        64     91
Feb   :  45,067   47,606   87,476    94,329     .73     .73        44      9
Mar   :  48,431   53,761  135,907   148,090     .73     .78        44     99
Apr   :  45,721   49,393  181,628   197,483     .73     .79        15     82
May   :  43,409   45,218  225,037   242,701     .73     .79         0    208
Jun   :  42,282   46,244  267,319   288,945     .72     .78        71    193
Jul   :  43,376   46,383  310,695   335,328     .71     .76       134    195
Aug   :  44,154   47,739  354,849   383,067     .70     .74       235    132
Sep   :  43,472   46,579  398,321   429,646     .69     .73        32     21
Oct   :  46,275   47,904  444,596   477,550     .69     .71       163     92
Nov   :  40,137   43,224  484,733   520,774     .69     .70       121    174
Dec   :  40,216   43,581  524,949   564,355     .69     .70        19
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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, December 1997-98
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :      Sales        :     Average     :      Ending
                      :      Volume       :      Price      :    Inventory
      Item            :-------------------------------------------------------
                      :   1997  :   1998  :  1997  :  1998  :  1997  :  1998
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      :    1,000 Pounds    Dollars Per Pound    1,000 Pounds
Fresh                 :
 Whole Fish           :
  Round & Gutted      :
   Only               :    924     1,057      .98     1.04       1/       1/
  Whole Dressed       :  2,127     2,197     1.70     1.71       1/       1/
  Total               :  3,051     3,254     1.50     1.52      151      143
                      :
 Other                :
  Steaks              :     77        66     2.02     2.00       1/       1/
  Nuggets             :    915       831     1.35     1.35       61       45
  Other 2/            :    155       184     3.20     3.11       1/       1/
  Total               :  1,147     1,081     1.64     1.69       76       57
                      :
 Fillets 3/           :  3,543     3,975     2.71     2.73      329      313
                      :
 Total Fresh          :  7,741     8,310     2.08     2.12      556      513
                      :
Frozen                :
 Whole Fish           :
  Round & Gutted      :
   Only               :
  Whole Dressed       :    793       974     1.88     1.97    1,142      650
  Total               :    793       974     1.88     1.97    1,142      650
                      :
 Other                :
  Steaks              :    146       105     1.80     1.75      132      167
  Nuggets             :  1,379     2,018     1.26     1.11    1,752    1,686
  Other 2/            :    859     1,052     2.63     2.67      793    1,010
  Total               :  2,384     3,175     1.79     1.65    2,677    2,863
                      :
 Fillets 3/           :  7,360     8,660     2.58     2.60    7,536    6,781
                      :
 Total Frozen         : 10,537    12,809     2.35     2.32   11,355   10,294
                      :
Total Fresh & Frozen  : 18,278    21,119     2.23     2.24   11,911   10,807
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 24 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                          Harvest Select
 Amite River Industries                   Heartland Catfish
 Aqua Farm Catfish                        Lake's Farm Raised Catfish, Inc.
 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
 
* Estimated 
The next "Catfish Processing " report will be released at
3:00 p.m. ET on February 24, 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.
 
 
 
 
                        ACCESS TO REPORTS!!
 
 
For your convenience, there are several ways to obtain NASS reports,
data products, and services:
 
                          INTERNET ACCESS
 
All NASS reports are available free of charge on the worldwide Internet.
For access, connect to the Internet and go to the NASS Home Page at:
http://www.usda.gov/nass/. Select "Today's Reports" or Publications and
then Reports by Calendar or Publications and then Search, by Title or
Subject.
 
                        E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION
 
All NASS reports are available by subscription free of charge direct to
your e-mail address. Send an e-mail message to:
usda-reports@usda.mannlib.cornell.edu. In the body of the message type
the word: list.
 
                           AUTOFAX ACCESS
 
NASSFax service is available for some reports from your fax machine.
Please call 202-720-2000, using the handset attached to your fax.
Respond to the voice prompts. Document 0411 is a list of available
reports.
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                 PRINTED REPORTS OR DATA PRODUCTS
 
 CALL OUR TOLL-FREE ORDER DESK:   800-999-6779 (U.S. and Canada)
Other areas, please call 703-834-0125               FAX:  703-834-0110
(Visa, MasterCard, check, or money order acceptable for payment.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
                            ASSISTANCE
 
For assistance with general agricultural statistics or further
information about NASS or its products or services, contact the
Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 800-727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
ET, or e-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov.