Channel catfish anemia (CCA) is a disease of unknown cause that has plagued the catfish industry since its inception. While normal packed cell volumes (PCV) of catfish range from approximately 20-40% (with higher PCVs in summer), anemic catfish have extremely low PCV, often with values of 5% or less. Clinically affected fish are often lethargic and show signs of respiratory distress despite adequate dissolved oxygen concentrations. The disease can result in chronic losses of 500-2000 lbs/acre, or acute losses with mortality approaching 100% in catastrophic outbreaks. The cause of CCA has not been identified and there are no known associations with infectious agents or environmental conditions. Histologically, there are abundant immature blast cells present in the head kidney, which coupled with low PCVs suggests arrested maturation of the erythroid lineage. Research was conducted to determine if iron fortified diets could promote red blood cell production in severely anemic fish. Anemic fish were collected from a commercial farm and transported to the NWAC research facility where a commercial diet fortified with varying levels of ferrous sulfate pentahydrate was delivered to anemic fish twice weekly by gavage. PCVs increased in a dose response fashion and after two weeks PCV levels returned to near normal levels. In comparison, the PCV of anemic fish fed non-fortified diets continued to decline over the same period. Similar results were observed in two commercial field trials where diets fortified with ferrous sulfate (500 ppm Fe) dramatically increased population level PCVs after 18-21 days. With few exceptions randomly sampled fish had PCVs greater than 20% and no severely anemic fish (PCV <10%) were identified. In comparison, there was no change in PCV values of anemic populations fed non-fortified diets over the same period. A two-year production trial was conducted in experimental ponds to ensure iron supplements did not increase iron concentrations in edible tissue or cause adverse effects on fish health. Healthy fish were fed diets supplemented with 0, 30, 700, and 1400 ppm Fe without any measurable differences in fish production, PCVs or iron levels in the fillet. While standard commercial catfish feeds far exceed the nutrient requirements for iron established by the National Research Council, data indicates increasing dietary iron in response to the onset of anemia promotes RBC production without measurable adverse effects on foodfish production, fish health or product quality.