National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report which confirms catfish processing dropped by 9 percent from last year. The average price paid to producers was 80.5 cents per pound for April 2010, up 2.0 cents from last month and 4.2 cents above a year ago. The report states that net pounds of processed fish sold during April 2010 totaled 18.7 million pounds, down 7 percent from the comparable month in 2009.
Sales of fresh fish were down 1 percent from April 2009 and represented 39 percent of total sales. Sales of whole fish represented 20 percent of the total fish sold, fillets accounted for 58 percent, and the remaining 22 percent were mostly steaks, nuggets, and value added products. The total end of the month inventory decreased 2 percent from last month but was up 13 percent from a year ago.
According to the report the average price received by processors for total fresh fish was $2.42 per pound, down 9 cents from last year. Prices for fresh whole fish were $1.57 per pound, down 11 cents from April 2009. Prices for fresh fillets were up 4 cents from a year ago at $3.27 per pound. Total frozen fish averaged $2.51 per pound, down 14 cents from April 2009. Prices for frozen whole dressed fish were up 5 cents at $2.24 and frozen fillets at $2.96 per pound were down 4 cents from a year ago.
