The release of the new catfish line should change that. It usually takes catfish 18 to 24 months to go from birth to market. NWAC103 catfish also consume 10-20 percent more feed than other catfish. However, the feed costs only 10 cents per pound, so producers are gaining a return on their investment because they can often get 70 to 80 cents per pound for the fish. Scientists are also using ultrasound technology to measure the size of muscle in a live catfish, thus estimating fillet yield.
Ultrasound measurements are a good indication of which fish have higher fillet yield.
ARS researchers are now breeding those fish to find the potential of producing offspring with higher fillet yields. Miss. An article in January's issue of ARS' monthly Agricultural Research magazine tells more. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture 's chief scientific research agency.