ECONOMICS OF ALTERNATIVE CATFISH PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES

Ganesh Kumar1, Carole Engle2, Terry Hanson3, Craig Tucker4, Travis Brown5, Lisa Bott3, Luke Roy3, Claude Boyd3, Matthew Recsetar6, Jeonghwan Park7, Eugene Torrans4
 
1Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center, Stoneville, Mississippi;
2Engle-Stone Aquatic$ LLC, Strasburg, Virginia
3School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
4Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Stoneville, Mississippi
5Center for Aquaculture & Biotechnology, Brunswick Community College, Supply, North Carolina
6Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
7Department of Marine Bio-Materials and Aquaculture, Pukyong National University,
Busan, South Korea
 

The US catfish industry has shown increasing trends toward intensification of production as a means of achieving cost efficiencies on farms. Previous studies depicted the potential for cost efficiencies in alternative technologies such as split-pond systems, intensively aerated ponds, and in-pond raceway systems. This study provides an economic comparison of these systems under a uniform set of economic assumptions using a standard enterprise budget analysis. Cost of production of hybrid catfish raised in these systems ranged from $2.03 to $2.91/kg, the highest cost being that of in-pond raceways and the lowest from split ponds. Positive annual net cash

flows from split-pond systems and intensively aerated ponds were sufficient to make the investment profitable. Cumulative effects of high investment cost (high annual fixed costs), poor survival, and lower yields from the in-pond raceway systems made it economically infeasible. However, the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was the best among these technologies. Risk analysis showed stochastic dominance of intensively aerated ponds and split-pond systems over in-pond raceway systems (Fig. 1). Variations in catfish price, yield, and FCR were the major contributors to economic risk. Implementing combinations of intensively aerated ponds and split-pond systems should be viewed as a strategy to respond to production and market needs.