Which states sell the most farm-raised catfish? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→3 in order
Catfish live in big rivers, right? So… Arkansas! 🐾
2Answer
Among the states USDA lists, the order is…
Mississippi sells more than half of all America's food-size catfish — about 1.99× as much as Alabama, the next state on USDA's list — and it is not among the 30 most populous states. Here is the part nobody guesses: these catfish never swim in a river. They are raised in flat, man-made ponds. In the Mississippi Delta the land is flat and the soil is heavy with clay, and water seeps through clay very slowly — so a dug pond holds its water instead of draining away.
📚 BackgroundThese catfish never swim in a river. They are raised in flat, man-made ponds — and Mississippi sells more than half of all of America's food-size catfish, even though it is not among the 30 most populous states. In the Mississippi Delta the land is flat and the soil is heavy with clay, and water moves through clay very slowly, so a dug pond holds its water instead of draining away. Neighboring Alabama is next on USDA's list.(USDA NASS Quick Stats)
Catfish live in big rivers, right? So… Arkansas! 🐾
3Compare
Food-size catfish sold (pounds, 2025)
🇺🇸 United States (national)330,042,000 lb
Mississippi#1194,300,000 lb
Most: Mississippi (194,300,000 lb); least shown here: Arkansas (15,900,000 lb).
Note: pounds of food-size catfish sold by fish farms in 2025. 2025, USDA NASS. Only three states get a separate published number; USDA reports all the rest added together as one “other states” total. Mississippi is bigger than that whole combined total, so it really is the national #1 — but the places after it are the order among the states USDA lists, not the national order.