Trout and catfish sales are up, according to the USDA

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The value of North Carolina trout and catfish sales are up, according to the USDA.

North Carolina’s commercial trout growers sold 3.43 million pounds of trout in 2012. Value of sales totaled $6.27 million, up 21 percent from the previous year.

North Carolina ranks second in the nation in trout sales behind Idaho. The value of sales for trout 12 inches and longer increased 17 percent to $5.59 million and averaged $1.72 per pound. Pounds sold were 3.25 million, down 3 percent from a year earlier.

Nationally, the total value of sales received by trout growers totaled $79.7 million for 2012, up 6 percent from a year earlier. Idaho accounted for 55 percent of the total value of fish sold.

Catfish sales in North Carolina totaled $5.70 million in 2012, up 3 percent from a year earlier. from $5.54 million in 2011. The average price received for foodsize catfish increased from 5 cents in 2012 to $1.09 per pound.

This was $0.15 higher than the national average of $0.94. By point of first sale, direct sales to processors accounted for 95 percent from a year earlier. of total foodsize fish sales. North Carolina ranks sixth nationally in total catfish sales.Catfish growers in the U.S. had sales of $341 million during 2012, down 20 percent from the previous year. The top fourstates, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas, accounted for 95 percent of total US sales.