The economic viability of the channel x blue hybrid (channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, female x blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, male)

Declining profit margins from the catfish industry have forced farmers to look for alternative ways to increase their profits from catfish farming. One method to increase profits from catfish production is through selective breeding. Auburn University has experimented with interspecific hybridization of catfish. The most promising hybrid is the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, female x blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, male, which has improved characteristics compared to the channel catfish.; An economic evaluation was conducted on the impacts of the CB hybrid on the catfish industry. Enterprise budgets and associated risks, for the different production phases of the CB hybrids and channel catfish were developed and evaluated. The budgets were used in a linear programming model (LP) to find the combination of production activity that would maximize farm profits while minimizing production risks. An equilibrium displacement model (EDM) was used, to study CB hybrid adoption on producer and consumer welfare. Benefit-Cost (B/C) analysis and Internal Rates of Return (IRR) were used to evaluate the net returns to hybrids research for different rates of CB hybrid adoption.; Enterprise budgets showed that the production of CB hybrid eggs, fry, fingerlings and food fish generated positive net returns above all costs. There were risks associated with increased income. Based on the LP results, the introduction of CB hybrids increased the net income of channel catfish farms. When farmers were free to choose the most profitable activity in the absence of constraining market forces, they choose the production and sale of CB hybrid fingerlings. When a farm was forced to use at least 75 percent of its water acreage for the production of foodsize hybrids, the net returns decreased. The EDM model showed that with a 50 percent industry level adoption of CB hybrids and a supply elasticity for non-feed inputs of one, the benefits accruing to the catfish industry were 310 million dollars. The change in the consumer surplus which represented the benefits accruing to catfish processors attained 226 million dollars, while the benefits accruing to the catfish producers were 84 million dollars. The B/C analysis for the net returns to hybrid research ranged from 1 to 76, while ERR ranged from 10.4 to 32.6 percent. The IRR's were larger then the required rates of return, and the B/C was larger than one. The results suggest that investment in CB hybrid research is worthwhile.