ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the historical origins of the catfish industry, its development, and constraints which may impede both growth in production and the broadening of positive economic benefit for residents in west Alabama. The catfish industry caught on in Alabama only towards the late 1960s, after it had already developed in Mississippi and Arkansas. Catfish production in west Alabama is managed primarily by members of the farm household. Respondents with less acreage in catfish production received a higher proportion of their income from off-farm employment than other producers. Market availability always seems to be a problem for catfish producers, who generally are limited to selling their fish to local processors. The Delta is the major producing area, but the innovation of catfish farming rapidly spread to the south and southeast. The history of the southern United States has been linked strongly to agriculture.
