If you’ve ever sat down to a plate of our fried catfish and thought “dang, this is good,” you’ve got a whole lot of hardworking American families to thank for that. August is National Catfish Month, and around here, that’s not just a fun little holiday on the calendar — it’s a full-blown reason to celebrate.
How National Catfish Month Got Started
Back in 1987, President Reagan signed a proclamation declaring June 25th “National Catfish Day,” after Congress passed a resolution recognizing just how much the U.S. catfish industry had exploded — production shot up over 1,200% between 1975 and 1985. That momentum kept building, and Congress went on to designate the whole month of August as National Catfish Month. Turns out, one day just wasn’t enough to properly honor the catfish, Cuz.
And here’s the kicker: back when that proclamation was signed, 99% of all catfish eaten in America was already farm-raised. This industry has been doing it right for a long, long time.
Meet the Farmers Behind Your Fish
Every piece of catfish we serve starts with real families, not big anonymous corporations. The Catfish Farmers of America represent farms across Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, and most of these operations are multi-generational and family-owned, with plenty of second-generation farmers now running the show their parents built.
Here’s how your catfish actually gets to the plate: hatcheries like the one in Inverness, Mississippi, raise around 75 million fingerlings a year. Once those little guys reach 4 to 5 inches long, they get trucked over to farms in places like Union Town, Alabama, where they grow for about 18 months in warm water (catfish need water at 80°F or above, so the growing season runs roughly May through September or October).
The species doing all this hard work? Channel catfish — the gold standard of the industry, known for a milder flavor, firmer texture, and bigger size than the alternatives. Industry-wide, American farms produce about 337 million pounds of catfish every year. That’s a whole lot of catfish, Cuz.
Why “Farm-Raised” and “American” Actually Matter
Here’s something that might surprise you: not all catfish on restaurant menus is actually catfish. In Texas, restaurants aren’t legally required to disclose if they’re serving imported look-alike fish like Pangasius or Swai, often farmed in Vietnam or China in far less regulated waters. Texas lawmakers have been pushing “truth in menu-ing” legislation to close that loophole, but until it passes, a lot of diners have no idea what they’re actually eating. Grocery stores already have to label this stuff correctly — restaurants just haven’t caught up yet. See Cuz, you need to come to Ragin’ Cajun because your getting American bred catfish straight from the great U.S.A.
One more thing worth bragging about: catfish is the only seafood in America that gets USDA inspection, meaning every plant processing U.S. catfish is USDA-approved or monitored. That’s a level of oversight most seafood never sees.
How Ragin' Cajun Supports American Catfish Farmers
When you order catfish from us, you’re getting the real deal — 100% U.S. farm-raised, sourced through trusted distributors, and cooked up the way it oughta be. We’ve been sourcing our catfish for two decades now from the same farm and supporting Catfish Farmers of America.
This August, do yourself a favor and order the catfish. Every plate supports the farm families in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas who’ve been doing this work for generations, and honestly, it just tastes better knowing where it came from.
Come celebrate National Catfish Month with us. Head to ragin-cajun.com to check out the menu and find a location near you.
