Families, churches, businesses, social organizations and political organizations all hold fish fries. A local producer can supply the desired fish. In the early days of the catfish industry, direct retail sales of live catfish were common and were critical to the success of a number of new operations. As the industry grew, farms expanded in acreage and moved to selling the fish to processors and live haulers, where 10,000-20,000 pound truckloads of fish could be sold at one time. This has resulted in a large and unmet demand for live farm-raised fish.
Returns are far higher than what can be obtained from sales to a processor.
Fish markets selling wild-caught fish have traditionally supplied the bulk of the market for fresh fish. However, concerns about contaminants in wild fish have been heightened by the discovery of unacceptably high levels of mercury in fish from several Arkansas rivers. Farm-raised fish provide an alternative source of high quality fresh fish for local communities. Marketing Marketing catfish on a small-scale is not for everyone. It is not a way to get wealthy.