Direct Economic Impact of Fish Diseases on the East Mississippi Catfish Industry

Abstract The objectives of this effort were to identify basic descriptors of the east Mississippi (MS) catfish industry, identify prevalent diseases affecting this region, and determine the direct economic impacts of these diseases representing the 2016 production season. Data from east MS catfish operations were collected over a 3-month period during the late spring through early summer of 2017. A 95% confidence interval (CI) with finite correction was used to make inferences on the population. The number of operations (115) and number of hectares used for catfish production (4,900 ha) were identified by personal communications and confirmed by satellite imagery. Producers were surveyed a second time by e-mail (29.6% response) to identify basic industry descriptors, the most predominant catfish diseases of east MS, and their respective direct economic impact. The top-three diseases, as reported by producers, were virulent Aeromonas hydrophila, the “other” disease category, and Flavobacterium columnare. Producers were surveyed a third time by e-mail (34% response) to identify the mean (±95% CI) of regional catfish production (8,070 ± 783 kg/ha). Foregone sales loss attributed to catfish disease was reported as the sum of fish loss ($10 million) and production loss ($4.3 million). Foregone income loss resulted from the increased expenditures associated with catfish disease and included medicated feed ($1.9 million), chemical applications ($0.6 million), and miscellaneous ($0.1 million). The total direct economic impact of catfish diseases for the 2016 east MS production season was reported as the sum of foregone sales and foregone income and totaled $16.9 million.