Catfish Stocking Density

Stocking catfish efficiently is easiest when you breed them.

For optimum breeding and output, you need to stock your waterway with the right number of catfish to start. The number depends on the size, type of waterway and the season.

Production

If your fish are less than a pound or two, they're not ready for harvesting.

To breed catfish, you need to start in the spring. Place brood fish in a small controlled pond and allow them to mate at random. Move fertilized eggs to a nursery pond throughout the summer. As fall approaches, move the fish to a bigger body of water for daily feedings. As the weather cools, you can harvest the fish that have grown to about two pounds.

Maintenance

Maintain your brood stock.

In order to spawn, catfish must be at least 3 years old. To maintain your brood stock effectively, make sure there are no more than 2,000 pounds per acre. This ensures proper food supply and environment for the fish. Inspect them every year to make sure the sex ratio is correct for your needs and that all the fish are relatively healthy.

Foodfish Stock

To harvest a decent food fish crop, stock 40,000 to 60,000 fingerlings, or fish weighing .1 to .3 pounds per acre, and move them out to food ponds as they grow bigger than that. There is no agreement on the best stock number for results. Commercially produced catfish outputs can be stocked anywhere from 500 food-sized fish per acre to more than 10,000 food-sized fish per acre.

References

• Mississippi State University: Commercial Catfish Production
• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Farm Raised Channel Catfish