The US catfish industry in the Mississippi Delta is the largest freshwater aquaculture sector in North America with specific welfare challenges from pond management and harvest.
US channel catfish welfare in pond systems is generally reasonable due to lower stocking densities than intensive Asian systems. The primary welfare risk is summer dissolved oxygen depletion from algae blooms that causes mass mortality events. Aerators are standard equipment but cannot always prevent welfare-compromising hypoxia during calm hot weather. Harvest by seining concentrates fish rapidly with associated crowding stress. Electric stunning before processing provides welfare improvement at slaughter. The scale of US catfish production means even modest welfare improvements benefit large numbers of fish.