After experiencing a watershed year in terms of supply for 2015, the catfish sector in the United States had to contend with undersupply issues at the beginning of 2016, along with a number of other production challenges. However, the industry is positioned for a positive 2017, according to a panel of premium finfish experts speaking last week during the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference in San Francisco, California.
Disease complications as well as issues with rainfall and cold water temperatures hurt catfish production during the spring of 2016, the panel noted. Producers were also seeing smaller fish at the outset of 2016, but production ramped up during the second half of the year, accounting for the bigger fish currently in stock.
“We went from having not a lot of fish, to having a lot of big fish,” said one panelist.
While some processors exited the catfish sector last year, many more new farms or returning farms entered the fold. There’s a chance that these farmers who are entering the business today may miss out on the period of opportunity coming to fruition now, though, as it takes a couple of years for their fish to enter the market, the panel agreed.
In response to the USDA’s inspection protocols, a lot of catfish suppliers have been getting creative with packaging techniques, which bodes well for the industry moving into the new year.
“The catfish guys are getting pretty creative with what they’re going to do to service their customers. They’re starting to change the pack size and do some IVP-style packaging,” the panel said.
