Aquaculture - TCI

Aquaculture

The cultivation of water plants and animals for human use started thousands of years ago. Today, it is the fastest growing segment of agriculture in the United States. Whether done in fresh water or salt, farming of food for our consumption is a technologically advanced science. Everything from scallops and oysters to salmon and, of course, catfish are being raised in controlled environments that help ease the increased demand for improved, quality protein sources to feed our ever-expanding world population.

U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish is consistently high quality and, unlike ocean-caught fish, is available all-year long at a price unaffected by external environmental conditions.

The following is a glance at the 2005 production and sales figures of the top five U.S. aquacultured species:

Species
Pounds Produced
Estimated Sales

Catfish

396.6 million lbs

$429.2 million

Trout

56.4 million lbs

$65.5 million

Tilapia

13.3 million lbs

$29.6 million

Salmon

2.4 million lbs

$37.4 million

Crawfish

35.9 million lbs

$21.1 million

* Current numbers will be listed as soon as possible, based upon the next census of aquaculture.

University of Arkansas
Auburn University
Mississippi State University
Monterery Bay Aquarium
National Fisheries Institute