Mississippi: Big Fish in the Nation’s Aquaculture Pond

Raised in Texas, Kenneth Kingery thought he was destined to be a cowboy. However, he chose a different path, as his animal nutrition degree and the call of catfish farming lured him to Mississippi.

Kingery represents one of the 205 catfish farmers in Mississippi, the nation’s long-running No. 1 state for farm-raised catfish. For more than 25 years, Kingery has worked in aquaculture, an industry known for farming in controlled water environments. He raises catfish in earthen ponds, where he feeds them a floating grain-based diet to produce a mild-flavored, high-protein Southern delicacy enjoyed throughout the United States.

Mississippi farmers today raise 58% of U.S.-grown catfish. Aquaculture farms, processing facilities, feed mills and equipment companies employ 10,000 people and contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s economy, according to The Catfish Institute.

“We have plenty of water in Mississippi, several processors and the land area works really well for these enclosed feeding systems,” says Kingery, who lives in Kemper County and chairs the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Aquaculture Advisory Committee. “I also like the freedom of being out there and producing a high-quality and tasty fish for the American consumer.”

See more: The Road to a Bright Future For Mississippi Agriculture

An Evolving Industry

Mississippi’s catfish fame is even evident from an airplane window seat. Grid-like patterns of rectangular-shaped ponds, roughly 5 to 10 acres in size, frequent the landscape – largely in the Delta area, with some in the Black Belt region in the state’s eastern sector.

Today, Mississippi farmers maintain about 36,000 acres of active aquaculture ponds, down sharply from the peak of around 110,000 acres in the early 2000s, according to Dr. Jimmy L. Avery, Extension professor with the Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center at Mississippi State University (MSU).

For a time, feed costs nearly tripled and then cheaper foreign whitefish products captured most of the market share, driving many farmers to convert their ponds to cropland, duck hunting or conservation lands. While U.S.-raised catfish represented 73% of the nation’s catfish consumption in 2006, that number dropped to just 38% in 2019 with lower-priced foreign fish products comprising the majority, Avery says.

Producing More With Less

Partially offsetting the acreage loss, though, is the rapid growth in productivity. Gross pounds of catfish per acre have increased nearly 71% in the last decade to an average of 6,740 pounds per acre in 2019, Avery shares.

Research deserves much of the credit. The study of intensive aquaculture systems, breeding of hardy and fast-growing hybrid catfish and the development of a vaccine to fight a leading cause of bacterial disease have all contributed to this rapid rise in productivity.

MSU continues to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit stationed in Washington County to fine-tune the management systems. Work at MSU and Auburn University led to the crossbreeding of the channel catfish and blue catfish, producing a hybrid catfish with faster growth, improved survival rates and more meat yield.

At the coastline, the University of Southern Mississippi has grown its marine biology program with the $25 million Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center as the centerpiece. Visitors can tour the facility where researchers employ cutting-edge technology to study marine shrimp, spotted sea trout, striped bass, blue crab and other aquatic life.

See more: Becoming Genuine MS

No. 1 in Processing

Kingery and his wife, Crystal, maintain 180 acres of water in 19 ponds, which hold anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 catfish per acre on their farm. He also manages 530 acres of water in 38 ponds for Prime Line Catfish, a local processor.
As with catfish production, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in catfish processing. About 60% of the U.S.-raised protein is processed and packaged in Mississippi as filets, whole fish, breaded fish products and ready-to-eat microwavable fish for distribution throughout the U.S., Avery says. Most processors have invested in high-tech systems with automated filet machines, in-line weight scales and cameras that allow for cutting filets into uniform shapes.

Harnessing Technology

Likewise, catfish farms have added technological advancements since the aquaculture industry’s onset in the 1960s. Kingery says the addition of electric aeration – rather than using tractors to regulate oxygen levels – has improved pond quality and management. Today, computer-controlled oxygen monitoring systems take that management to the next level.

Second-generation catfish farmer Will Nobile monitors and controls oxygen levels in his ponds from a computer and smartphone. He and his father, Jerry, manage 650 acres of catfish ponds and a catfish hatchery in Sunflower County.

“Before we had this system, you had to cut the aerators on and off manually,” says Nobile, a member of the MFBF Aquaculture Advisory Committee. “When you have 60-some ponds, it can take you two hours. We also wasted a lot of electricity.”

The system turns aerators on and off to keep oxygen levels within the parameters they set per pond, instantly responding to each pond’s needs. Besides paying for itself several times over, the technology has saved fish and efficiently uses environmental resources.

“I see a real bright future in the catfish business because the younger generation is about healthy, sustainable food,” says Nobile, whose wife, Olivia, is expecting their third child in March. “Catfish is your prime example of something sustainable. It helps the environment, provides a place for wildlife and we employ several people locally. It’s what a farming operation needs to be.”

See more: 10 Farm Facts About Mississippi Catfish