Documentation

NOTE: Updates to this data product are discontinued.

Scope
Production and Inventory Data
Import and Export Data
Related Links

Scope

Aquaculture is the production of aquatic animals and plants under controlled conditions for all or part of their lifecycle. This data product provides statistics on domestically grown catfish and trout and U.S. imports and exports of fish and shellfish that may be products of aquaculture, such as salmon, shrimp, and oysters.

Production and Inventory Data

Note: Starting in March 2013 there is no new data for catfish processing. Data for catfish and trout production are reported yearly.

USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts three surveys of the U.S. aquaculture industry. The surveys contain information on the inventory, production, and processing of catfish and trout.

Catfish Processing (monthly) reports the poundage and price of live fish purchases by processors and the quantity and price of products sold by processors. Processors also report inventories. Data are collected from processors that have the capacity to process at least 2,000 pounds live weight of catfish per 8-hour shift.
Catfish Production (twice a year) reports data from catfish growers in selected States, concentrating on sales by size class, detailing the quantity in number and weight and the price per pound. It also contains the number of farms and the estimated inventories of live fish held on farms. Data are collected from all known producers.
Trout Production (annual) reports the number of trout operations and grower sales for selected States and the number, weight, and value produced by type (food size, stocker, and fingerlings). Data are collected from all known producers.

Import and Export Data

U.S. trade data are collected by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and compiled and distributed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division. Trade data are released monthly by the Census Bureau using the United States Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) of 10-digit codes. Documentation and summary statistics are available from the Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Statistics web page.

This data product contains information on imports and exports of trout, salmon, tilapia, shrimp, oysters, mussels, clams, scallops, and ornamental fish, both in terms of volume (pounds) and value (nominal dollars). Additional detail is provided for salmon, shrimp, and tilapia by type of processing (fresh/frozen and whole/fillets/prepared). See Trade codes for U.S. imports and exports of fish and shellfish that may be products of aquaculture for a full list of HTS codes and descriptions. Obsolete codes (those no longer in use) are designated with an asterisk (*) in the product description. Volume data are converted from kilograms to pounds by ERS. Data are updated monthly.