Fresh farmed catfish processing. (Photo: USDA-K.Hammond)

Catfish companies to cut hours, institute layoffs in H1

Mississippi-based company Heartland Catfish will exercise temporary layoffs and cut its employees’ hours during the first half of this year. Workers at plants in both Mississippi and Alabama will feel the repercussions of the move. 

CEO of Heartland Danny Walker said the entire industry is up against a catfish shortage and that the supply will remain low until mid-June.

After this period, however, Walker assured that the company will call back its employees. Heartland anticipates that it will gradually rehire workers by early summer and be back at full capacity by 1 July, which is when new supplies of fish will arrive, reports Associated Press.

Some 470 workers work at the company’s processing plants in Itta Bena and another 280 in Greensboro, Alabama. These workers were all told about the upcoming temporary cutbacks earlier this month, Walker said.

Catfish farming and harvesting (Photo: USDA/Stephen Ausmus)

Even though Heartland acquires around 35 per cent of its live fish from its own farming operations, Walked clarified, it has been difficult to obtain sufficient inventory from its other suppliers.

In Mississippi, catfish acreage has plummeted by about 40 per cent since peaking at 113,000 ac in 2002 alone – and this state is the country’s prime producer of catfish.

The cause of farmers’ decision to cut acreage has been elevated feed costs, competition from abroad and what until recently had been low prices for their fish. Plus, booming grain prices have made it even more expensive to raise their fish, as grains are a basic ingredient of catfish feed.

Solon Scott III, president of America’s Catch, said his company also foresees shorter hours and a possible reduction of production days per week until the beginning of the summer feeding season.

Until 2011, processors were normally able to rely on enough supply of harvestable fish to keep production running fully throughout the year.

But now, the dearth of supply has made prices rise by 20 per cent over the past six months alone – which has been positive for domestic farmers, as it is helping offset their struggle with low prices caused by foreign competition.

Farmed catfish processed in January totaled 35.1 million lb – a drop of 12 per cent year-on-year. The average price paid to producers was USD 0.931 per lb in January, up USD 0.7 from last month and USD 0.167 cents higher than in January 2010, according to USDA statistics.

Freshwater imports for consumption of Ictalurus spp., Pangasius spp., and other catfish of the order Siluriformes for December 2010 totaled 16.9 million lb, up 44 percent from the amount imported in December 2009. Imports were from Cambodia, China, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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- NFI asserts its opinions on catfish 

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Address:	55001 Highway 82 West
City:	Itta Bena
State/ZIP:	Mississippi (MS 38941)
Country:	United States
Phone:	+1 662 254 7100
Fax:	+1 662 254 7155
E-Mail:	[email protected]
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