FISH FARMING: SOMETHING FISHY DOWN ON THE FARM

The catfish were transferred into holding tanks contained in pickup trucks parked on the bank of the fish pond.

Workers, from left, Harlan Groning, Larry Wills, Roy Moore, Paula Moore, James Spence and Paul Jones prepared to transfer catfish from a seine into a live car net.

There's something fishy down on some farms these days.

Catfish, trout, carp, bass, bluegill, crappie and fresh-water shrimp are among aquaculture crops being raised on a number of farms, including 45 fish-farm operations in Missouri.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, is a newcomer to the U.S. compared to 4,000-year-old industries in countries like Egypt and China.

The Egyptians were successfully farming Nile carp more than 4,000 year ago, and the Chinese have been farm-raising carp for centuries.

Fish farming was introduced in the U.S. in the 1960s -- scarcely 30 years ago.

In 1997, more than 525 million pounds of fish were raised on fish farms in the United States.

That's more than two times the farm fish production of a decade ago.

U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) statistics reveal that aquaculture is the fastest-growing segment of U.S. agriculture.

Catfish farming makes up more than 50 percent of the U.S. aquaculture industry. Two years ago, more than 400 million pounds of catfish were raised down on the farm.

Not many years ago, people took catfish for granted -- a Southern staple deep fried and served with hush-puppies. Today, the nation's population averages eating at least a pound a year each of catfish in the form of fish steaks, fillets, strips and nuggets.

Aquaculture is big business for at least four southern states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, which, combined, produce 94 percent of farm-fish.

This translates into a $4 billion industry to each of the four states, and provides employment to more than 13,000 workers.

But, fish farming has caught on in other states, including Missouri, where 45 fish farms are registered in the state, more than half of them in Southeast Missouri.

In Illinois the count is about 45 to 50 fish farms, with two of the big operations in Southern Illinois, along U.S. Route 3, near Gorham.

A total of 17 fish farms are registered in Dunklin County, Mo. Four are registered in Butler County, three from Stoddard County, and three from Pemiscot County, including the Pierce Fish Farm, headquartered in Caruthersville.

Most Missouri operations concentrate on catfish. A dozen of the state's fish farms specialize in trout. And, at least one fish farm, in Butler County, is experimenting with fresh-water shrimp.

"There may be other fish farms in the state," said Randy Noyes, of the Missouri Department of Conservation. "They are not required to register with us."

No fish farms are registered in Cape Girardeau County, but three commercial fishermen are registered there.

"Some commercial fishermen don't operate fish farms," said Noyes. "They may fish the river for catfish, carp or buffalo and sell them."

For the Pierce Family of Southeast Missouri, the industry is about a decade old.

A large fish farm is a time-consuming operation, said Robert Pierce, president of Pierce Fish Farm, located alongside Interstate 55 south of Hayti.

"We owned land near the interstate that wasn't good for anything else," said Pierce. "The state had purchased a lot of the dirt in the building of the interstate, and left a few barrow pits in the area. We decided to go into the fish farm business."

We have 14 ponds and 280 acres of water," said Pierce. "Most of them are about 700 feet wide and 1,300 feet long (about 20 acres)."

In the spring, someone must be around the ponds 14 hours a day, monitoring the oxygen supply and making sure the aerators are working.

The major problem in the raising of catfish is the oxygen supply, said Pierce.

"The fish have to be monitored, especially after dark, when the ponds are checked every two hours," he said. "We have two 10-horsepower aerators in every pond."

Records and charts are kept on each ponds, from early spring through the harvest season, usually mid-to-late October.

During the winter, the fish hang out on the bottom of the pond, where the warmest water is. Because catfish metabolism is based on temperature, it's slow in the winter, and they're not very hungry.

"They can live off their own body stores," said Pierce.

Pierce sells catfish to fee-fishing lake operators.

"We acquire the fish fingerlings when they weigh less than a quarter pound," said Pierce. "We raise them to about two to three pounds and sell them to fee lakes.

Pierce actually sells to "live haulers," who transport the fish in aerated tanker trucks, to fee fishing lakes in Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.

The Pierce operations sells about a half-million pounds of catfish a year. Starting in March, harvesting operations are carried on at the fish farm.

"We harvest the fish twice a week," said Pierce.

A long seine is used, pulled by mechanical devices from hydraulic tractors.

"We use a net about 1,000 feet long and nine feet high," said Pierce. "It has floats on the top, with heavy lead lines on the bottom to drag the bottom of the pond."

The harvest is conducted early in the morning. "We pull the net from one side to the other," said Pierce.

The catfish are fed catfish rations, including special rations of soybean, corn, wheat and vitamins.

Pierce Farms purchase their catfish food from a company in Mississippi. "We go down to Greenville very week to get a truck load of catfish food," said Pierce. "The feed is available from about $200 a ton. And, we use a lot of tons."

Another big fish operation in Southeast Missouri is that of Larry Wills, who operates Southern Missouri Catfish Company of Neelyville. Wills

Wills' company operates a fish processing south of Neelyville. He also raises fish and has a fee fishing lake operation.

"We process from 75,000 to 100,000 pounds of fish a year," said Wills, who also works with another large fish-farm operation near Harviel -- the Jones and Eaker Fish Farm. The Jones and Eaker operation is owned by Paul Jones and Rodney Eaker,

The Jones/Eaker farm has 28 ponds, ranging in six from a half-acre to 25 acres.

Like the Pierce Farm, the Jones/Eaker operation sells fish to fee lakes. But, it also sell fish to processing plants, and fingerlings to local fish-farm producers. The Jones/Eaker operations is also experimenting with fresh-water shrimp.

Two of the largest fish-farm operations in Illinois are located in the Gorham area -- Logan Hollow Fish Farm and Fountain Bluff Fish Farm.

"We have about 140 acres of water in 55 different ponds," said Pete Reiss of the Logan Hollow Fish Farm.

"We're involved with a lot of different fingerling species -- bluegill, crappie. bass, catfish -- which are used for `stock' fish."

Fish farming was the topic of a recent workshop, held at Southern Illinois University. More than 80 people attended the one-day workshop last weekend.

Among speakers at the workshop were Christopher C. Kohler, associate director of Fishers Research Laboratory at SIU, and his wife, Susan T. Kohler, an SIU-C economic and regional development official.

"Aquaculture is a lot more than digging a hole, filling it with water and sticking some fish in it," said Susan Kohler.

The Kohlers have raised fish for five years, includin hybrid striped bass, channel catfish and minnows. They own 11 ponds near Makanda.

The Kohlers feel that the market for Midwest farm fish is about to take off, with the announcement that a new processing plant will open at Pinckneyville Prison when it opens.

"This will be the only fish processing plant in the state," said Christopher Kohler. "Previously, people who raised fish had no place to process them. The processing end is a major component of the fish farm industry."