February 15-18, 2009 Washington State Convention Center Seattle ...

CHANNEL CATFISH FRY PRODUCTION : HATCHERY SPAWNING REPLACE POND
SPAWNING?
Nagaraj G. Chatakondi
Eagle Aquaculture, Inc.
339 Aqui Lane
Pike Road, AL 36064 USA
nagaraj.chatakondi@eagleaqua.com
US farm raised channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus, production relies almost entirely upon natural pond spawning, producing
approximately 2 billion catfish fry annually. Catfish spawning is unpredictable and often varies between 10 – 80% depending
on broodstock, farm management, and environmental factors. The unpredictable and wide variation in reproductive
performance is a limiting factor in the fingerling production under natural pond spawning conditions. The inability to identify
spawning and non-spawning broodfish has hindered selection for reproductive success in genetic improvement programs in
channel catfish.
Superiority of hybrid catfish compared to the commonly grown channel catfish in research and commercial ponds in this decade
will be presented. Higher growth rate, survival and processing yield coupled with lower feed conversion of hybrid catfish
results in lower cost of production.
However, producing commercial quantities of this superior genotype in the last 35 years has hindered its large scale application
in the catfish industry. Recent advances in broodstock preparation and technological innovations in hormone induced spawning
of channel catfish to produce Channel X Blue hybrid catfish production in commercial quantities is presently feasible
(Table1.)
The potential of hatchery spawning to replace the traditional natural pond spawning of channel catfish will be highlighted.
Strategies to produce predictable and efficient fry production under commercial conditions will be discussed.