CHANNEL CATFISH PRODUCTION WITH COMBINATION AND REPLACEMENT STOCKING

A production strategy for channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus that hel ps increase pond production, keeps size-classes of fish in discrete gr oups, and provides multiple harvest dates throughout the year was deve loped and tested. Fingerling catfish were graded into three different size-groups and stocked into 0.04-ha ponds at a density of 900 fish/po nd (450 fish stocked loose in the pond and 450 fish stocked in a 1.25- m(3) cage). The caged fish were either harvested for the whole-fish ma rket (weight, 90-330 g) or transferred into vacated ponds when the dai ly feeding rate of the total pond (open pond and cage) reached 112 kg/ ha. The remaining fish were fed until the daily feeding rate again rea ched 112 kg/ha; the fish in the open pond were then harvested for the fillet market (510-850 g). As a result of the combination stocking (fi sh stocked both loose in a pond and in a cage within the same pond) an d the separation of size-cohorts, fish were harvested six times over a n approximately 14-month period. The total net pond production among t he units averaged 7,555 +/- 2,073 kg/ha (mean +/- SD), and the average production per feed-day (days that fish were fed a full ration, parti al days summed) of this system was 43.8 +/- 5.6 kg/ha. This study indi cates that by stocking multiple, segregated size-classes, an annual pr oduction system can produce marketable-size fish at different times th roughout the year while maintaining high production rates.