New Spawning Aid for Hybrid Catfish
Catfish is the largest finfish industry in the United States, with sales of more than $400 million in 2021. The most raised species in the United States are the channel catfish and blue catfish. Many catfish farmers grow a hybrid of these two fish as they are more disease resistant and have better production traits. However, channel catfish and blue catfish do not mate with each other naturally. Hybrids are produced by collecting the eggs from the channel catfish female and manually fertilizing them with sperm from the blue catfish male. To collect the eggs, the females must be administered a spawning aid to help them release their eggs.
ARS researchers at the Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit in Stoneville, MS, developed a new spawning aid resulting in increased egg yield. Researchers successfully tested the new spawning aid during the 2020 spawning season, and today it is used by all U.S. hybrid catfish producers.
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