As Price of Grain Rises, Catfish Farms Dry Up
By David Streitfeld
The New York Times, July 18, 2008
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_13642.cfm
Straight to the Source
LELAND, Miss. - Catfish farmers across the South, unable to cope with the soaring cost of corn and soybean feed, are draining their ponds.
"It's a dead business," said John Dillard, who pioneered the commercial farming of catfish in the late 1960s. Last year Dillard & Company raised 11 million fish. Next year it will raise none. People can eat imported fish, Mr. Dillard said, just as they use imported oil.
As for his 55 employees? "Those jobs are gone."
[snip]
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This article about our catfish farmers being driven out of business brought to mind this older Kurt Saxon article about raising your own catfish for food. It sounds really do-able.
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RAISING CATFISH IN A BARREL
By Philip and Joyce Mahan
http://www.kurtsaxon.com/foods007.htm
The materials can be very simple: Two 55-gallon steel drums, three panes of glass 24 inches square, and a medium-sized aquarium air pump. One of the drums will serve as a tank for the fish, oxygen being supplied by the air pump; and the second drum should be cut in half to provide two bins for the worms. The panes of glass are used as covers for the worm bins and fish tank, and for ease and safety in handling can be framed with scrap lumber.
We chose catfish because they are readily available in our part of Alabama, and reach eating size in a summer. Various small members of the sunfish family, such as bluegill or bream, would also be suitable.
First of all, we have a regular supply of fresh fish at minimal cost. A seven-ounce catfish fingerling grows to 25 ounces in a summer, thus producing a pound of food in four months.
[snip]
(The article contains good, simple instructions on anything you need to know regarding maintaining the fish and raising worms to feed them.)
By David Streitfeld
The New York Times, July 18, 2008
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_13642.cfm
Straight to the Source
LELAND, Miss. - Catfish farmers across the South, unable to cope with the soaring cost of corn and soybean feed, are draining their ponds.
"It's a dead business," said John Dillard, who pioneered the commercial farming of catfish in the late 1960s. Last year Dillard & Company raised 11 million fish. Next year it will raise none. People can eat imported fish, Mr. Dillard said, just as they use imported oil.
As for his 55 employees? "Those jobs are gone."
[snip]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This article about our catfish farmers being driven out of business brought to mind this older Kurt Saxon article about raising your own catfish for food. It sounds really do-able.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
RAISING CATFISH IN A BARREL
By Philip and Joyce Mahan
http://www.kurtsaxon.com/foods007.htm
The materials can be very simple: Two 55-gallon steel drums, three panes of glass 24 inches square, and a medium-sized aquarium air pump. One of the drums will serve as a tank for the fish, oxygen being supplied by the air pump; and the second drum should be cut in half to provide two bins for the worms. The panes of glass are used as covers for the worm bins and fish tank, and for ease and safety in handling can be framed with scrap lumber.
We chose catfish because they are readily available in our part of Alabama, and reach eating size in a summer. Various small members of the sunfish family, such as bluegill or bream, would also be suitable.
First of all, we have a regular supply of fresh fish at minimal cost. A seven-ounce catfish fingerling grows to 25 ounces in a summer, thus producing a pound of food in four months.
[snip]
(The article contains good, simple instructions on anything you need to know regarding maintaining the fish and raising worms to feed them.)