Carole R. Engle

The evolution of farm management, production efficiencies, and current challenges to catfish production in the United States

Abstract The catfish industry is the most successful aquaculture business in the US. The development and growth of the catfish industry has resulted in complex fish farm businesses that require intensive management. Technological innovations have resulted in increased yields (land use efficiency). However, in more recent years, productivity gains have not kept pace with the rate of increase in input costs. Increasing intensification of catfish production over time has been accompanied by increased use of debt capital that results in higher levels of financial risk. While still a profitable activity, real profit margins have declined as financial risk has increased. New technologies will likely continue to increase productivity over time. Market‐oriented agribusiness approaches to catfish marketing are likely to become the norm. The challenge for the catfish industry is to coordinate adoption of new higher‐cost technologies with demand increasing market development to sustain farm price levels.

Nonparametric estimation of returns to investment in Honduras shrimp research

Abstract Economic returns to the investment in shrimp research in Honduras by Auburn University researchers, as a part of the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program (1993 to 1998), were estimated using a nonparametric approach. A survey of shrimp growers in Honduras provided data on yield, input application, and prices for their first year of production and for the year 1997. Research investment data included funding from both public and private sectors. Results showed that total factor productivity indices increased from 1995 to 1997 indicating technical progress due to research. When both private and public investment were considered, the internal rate of return to the investment in research was 46%. However, the internal rate of return to public‐sector investment alone was above 6,681%. This indicated that the public funds invested in shrimp research in Honduras have been leveraged effectively with private‐sector capital to generate technological progress.

Potential restaurant markets for farm‐raised tilapia in Nicaragua

Abstract This study assessed the potential to increase sales of farm‐raised tilapia through domestic restaurants in Nicaragua. Direct personal interviews were conducted with 118 restaurant managers. Information was collected on tilapia and other seafood sales, restaurant and market characteristics, attitudes towards tilapia characteristics, and willingness to add tilapia to the menu. The results from logit analyses suggest that the most promising restaurant markets for tilapia are older restaurants that offered a variety of food and those that served steaks. Larger restaurants that considered tilapia to be a high‐quality product and that offered “ceviche” (fish marinated in lime juice) on the menu were those that tended to sell tilapia. Tilapia farmers and processors in Nicaragua will need to guarantee and ensure the flavor, quality, and safety of their product, and promote these attributes.

Impact of different policy options on profits of private catfish farms in Chicot County, Arkansas

Abstract The catfish industry is recognized as an important component of foodfish aquaculture in the U.S. Due to different economic factors, the live catfish price has fallen below the breakeven price. In this study, a policy analysis matrix is used to identify changes in private and social economic incentives of catfish farms under alternative policy options. Farm level data were used to estimate private profits and different world prices were used to estimate social benefits and costs of producing live catfish in Chicot County, Arkansas. The results indicate that catfish farms paid about

Impact of Low Catfish Prices on Economically Efficient Feeding and Optimal Stocking Densities of Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, in Multi-Batch Production in the U. S. South

1.06/kg in implicit tax for live catfish sold in 2001. The most affected are catfish farms operating less than 40 ha. Any policy aimed at stabilizing catfish prices will be very beneficial, particularly, given limitations to access of capital by small‐scale farms resulting from lending limits on borrowing.

Potential Consumer Acceptance of Canned Bighead Carp: A Structural Model Analysis

ABSTRACT Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, prices fell to historically low levels in 2002 in the U.S., but little economic research has been done on optimal farm management during times of very low prices. A Just-Pope catfish production function was used to estimate minimum catfish prices and maximum feed prices at which various feeding rates would be economically efficient. Optimal stocking and feeding rates were estimated for very low catfish price levels. Low catfish prices require lower stocking and feeding rates to operate at profit-maximizing levels. However, results showed that the very low prices of 2001–2002 would require farmers to stock at densities less than 10,000/ha to be able to feed at 2% of the pond biomass. Even maintenance feeding (1% of pond biomass) is not economically efficient at prices below

Comparative Economics of US Catfish Production Strategies: Evidence from a Cross-sectional Survey

1.43/kg. However, stocking rates below 10,000/ha will not generate adequate revenue to cover debt-servicing requirements for long-term capital investment loans. Thus, farmers must adopt management strategies that will satisfy the multiple business requirements of servicing debt and meeting fish-delivery schedules. The results of this analysis provide guidance on the relationships among prices of catfish and feed, with stocking and feeding rates, to provide a basis for these difficult decisions.