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MORGANTOWN, Ky. — Are you looking for fresh fish? What better place to look than the catfish capital of Kentucky: Morgantown in Butler County. Now a local fish processor and a production network want to offer farmers small and large the opportunity to become part of the fastest-growing segment of agriculture in the world – aquaculture.
BAIT (Butler County Aquaculture Industry team) supplies family-owned processor Gone Fishin with catfish, prawn and frogs. This progressive group is networking in feed purchases, harvesting, educational meetings and even coordination of the timing of crops to organize a year-round supply. BAIT also provides technical resources and economic, social and resource data. BAIT has a $25 per year membership fee.
Bobby and Teresa Lindsey own and operate Gone Fishin, a processing and retail fish market just south of the Natcher Parkway on U.S. 231. This hard-working, enthusiastic family has built a successful aquaculture business from the ground up, including a very neat, clean processing facility that hand-fillets every fish. This attention to detail has allowed the Lindseys to improve their dressing percentage by more that 10 percent over other processing methods while improving quality by inspecting every piece. The Gone Fishin Inc. display counter is loaded with catfish, shrimp and frog legs as well as other species of farm-raised and wild-caught fish from other parts of the U.S. Their goal is for the majority of their products to be raised in Kentucky. The next step, partially already in place, is cooking product, maybe a deli or even a restaurant, which will again grow the business.
Gone Fishin has a unique problem. Demand is so good and growing every day that it is in need of catfish, shrimp and even frogs for frog legs in order to keep up with orders. Teresa Lindsey, a longtime employee of Houchen’s Markets, has turned her employer into a customer. The continuous demand from Houchen’s and the increasing demand from the display case at the store result in the Lindseys ordering catfish from Mississippi. Modern agriculture requires that producers sell their products prior to production rather than waiting on the pond bank at harvest hoping someone shows up to buy.
If interested call Alan Pendley at (270) 526-4262 or Gone Fishin at (270) 526-3643. Cost share money is available through the Agricultural Diversification program. Check for available funds with your local Ag Development fund county committee.
For more information contact Warren Beeler or Angela Caporelli at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture at (502) 564-4983.
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