US catfish processing down ten percent from last year

Tor-Eddie Fossbakk This total is the lowest reported October round weight processed since October 1996 when 42.1 million pounds were processed. The average price paid to producers was 68.2 cents per pound for October 2007, down 1.5 cents from last month and 15.4 cents below a year ago. According to a press release from US Department of Agriculture, net volume of processed fish sold during October 2007 totaled 22.5 million pounds, up slightly from the comparable month in 2006. The total end of the month inventory increased 3 percent from last month but was down 16 percent from a year ago. Sales of fresh fish, at 8.23 million pounds, were up 4 percent from October 2006 and represented 37 percent of total sales. Frozen fish sales, at 14.3 million pounds, were down 2 percent from a year ago and accounted for the remaining 63 percent of total fish sales. Sales of whole fish represented 18 percent of the total fish sold, fillets accounted for 61 percent, and the remaining 21 percent were mostly steaks, nuggets, and value added products. The October 2007 average price received by processors for total fresh fish was USD 2.33 per pound, down 25 cents from last year. Prices for fresh whole fish were USD 1.59 per pound, down 22 cents from October 2006. Prices for fresh fillets were down 27 cents from a year ago at USD 2.96 per pound. Total frozen fish averaged USD 2.30 per pound, down 26 cents from October 2006. Prices for frozen whole dressed fish were down 21 cents at USD 2.06 and frozen fillets at USD 2.74 per pound were down 32 cents from a year ago. Freshwater imports for consumption of Ictalurus spp., Pangasius spp., and other catfish of the order Siluriformes for September 2007 totaled 6.74 million pounds, down 26 percent from the amount imported in September 2006. Imports were from Cambodia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Spain, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Ictalurus spp. imports totaled 607 thousand pounds, which were from Canada and China. Fresh boneless catfish fillet exports totaled 99.000 pounds, with 62.300 pounds going to Canada and the rest going to the Bahamas, Mexico, and the Netherlands. Exports of frozen, boneless catfish fillets reported for September 2007 totaled 43.200 pounds, which went to Germany, Iceland, and Mexico.