Dr. Nina Baghai-Riding\u2019s Foundation of Environmental Science class recently toured the catfish laboratories at the Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center in Stoneville, Miss.<\/p>\n
Dr. Brian C. Peterson, research physiologist, led the tour.\u00a0 The students learned aspects associated with catfish production, such as growth and maturation rate, bacteria diseases, feeding costs, and aspects concerning genetic variation. In addition, the class saw research laboratories, how fish are pit tagged, watched catfish being fed and observed machinery involved in filleting catfish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tour fit in real well with what my class was studying,\u201d said Baghai-Riding. \u201cAt that time, we were talking about genetic engineered food. Catfish is a major agricultural product in Mississippi. Improvements are constantly being made to raise and enhance food for flavor, yield, pest resistance, and more.<\/p>\n
Seeing the catfish farming helped my students understand how catfish breeding is done. At Stoneville, catfish are studied to enhance their resistance to disease, speed up their maturity and flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The class also saw several strains of blue and channel catfish as well as hybrid catfish. Baghai-Riding\u2019s last couple of class sessions focused on the production and distribution of food from a world perspective. Touring a local catfish research facility was enlightening to her class. Students became aware of the amount of food, temperature parameters, and other environmental factors that are necessary to raise catfish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trip to the catfish labs at Stoneville gave me a great confirmation of all the work that goes into catfish farming and research,\u201d said student Jamal Hester. \u201cI experienced how catfish were fed, bred through selective mating, researched, pit tagged and much more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commercial catfish production is a major aquaculture industry in the United States, and the Mississippi Delta has thousands of acres devoted to catfish production.<\/p>\n