The soaring price of feed for catfish and competition from imports has eroded the profitability of catfish farms, an aquaculture expert said.
Catfish feed prices hovered near USD 250 a ton for two decades before jumping to USD 600 a ton in the past two years, The New York Times reported Saturday.
“It’s impossible to make even a napkin calculation showing that this is profitable,” said Craig Tucker, a former director of the Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center of Mississippi State University.
A long-time trend in rising feed prices and the recent surge in prices has pushed many catfish farmers out of business during the past year — helping drive up the price for fish, a benefit for those that remain in business.
