Each farm should have a comprehensive plan specifying the size of catfish required by the market where the farmer sells his or her fish. However, different strategies can be used to produce fish of a given size. The basic principles are that larger fish will grow faster and to a larger individual size than will smaller fish, but larger fingerlings cost more to purchase than do smaller fish. Larger fish reach harvest size in a shorter period of time than do smaller fish. For example, catfish fingerlings when stocked at 6,000/acre reached 0.62 lb in multiple batch when stocked at 3 inches; 0.81 lb at 5 inches; and 1.01 lb when stocked at 7 inches (Engle and Valderrama 2001).
Engle, C.R. and D. Valderrama. 2001. Effect of Stocking Density on Production Characteristics, Costs, and Risk of Producing Fingerling Channel Catfish. North American Journal of Aquaculture 63(3):201-207. Chosen as “best paper of the year in NAJA.”
