Four Generations of Fish Farming I.F. Anderson Farms, the World’s Largest Bait Fish Hatchery h Hard work – that’s what keeps a family fish farm successful after four generations. “We work seven days a week, go home at night, rest a bit, get up the next day and do it all again,” said Jamie Anderson, vice-president of I.F. Anderson Farms Inc. Jamie has been working on the farm since he was 12 years old and his father, in his 70s, is still the president. The farm began in 1949 with Anderson’s grandad and great granddad catching wild fish and running bait routes. Then, they purchased 800 acres that had an 80acre rice farm. After building ponds, they caught wild fish, stocked them and started domestically raising fish. Now the farm has the largest hatchery in the world, of any kind. They hatch over 1.3 billion head of golden shiners alone. I.F. Anderson also raises goldfish, black and pink fatheads and Black Salty. Black Salty baitfish is a patented trademark of I. F. Anderson that Jamie and his dad developed in the early 2000’s while offshore fishing and gathering bait. “For those that don’t know, your first couple of hours are spent catching your bait and then going out and trying to catch bigger fish,” said Anderson. “Dad and I thought there has to be a better way. We started selectively breeding fish and developed a freshwater fish that will live in salt water long enough to be used for bait. It’s one of the toughest fish you’ve ever seen.” The Black Salty was so popular in saltwater markets that people started using it in freshwater as well. Keeping a fish farm successful 72 ARKANSAS GROWN requires work and not just in the outdoors. There are many unique challenges that face the aquaculture industry–depredation, regulations and market competition. Depredation, mainly birds feeding on the fish, is the biggest on-farm issue that I. F. Anderson faces. They are constantly working to maintain permits for great blue herons, pelicans and cormorants. “Baitfish is on the bottom of the food chain, so everything eats it. We’re constantly fighting that issue whether it’s here in Arkansas or trips to D.C.,” said Anderson. Fish farmers actually spend a large portion of time in D.C. working on regulations that could affect their industry. Two of the biggest issues are transportation and labor. I. F. Anderson ships to 41 states in total, primarily using roads. This makes it important that their employees know and understand the laws as they cross state lines. “If you can’t deliver your product, you can’t sell your product,” said Anderson. The fish they ship go to retail shops, individuals and wholesalers, and they want to receive their bait fish alive. Transportation regulations can make that difficult. Anderson is combating ground regulations with their air freight division. Fish, which have slowly been cooled on ice, are shipped overnight to customers. Another influence on the business is the H2A visa program. I. F. Anderson Farms seasonally employs 17 H2A visa workers. “I would love to fill those spots with local people but cannot find them. The visa program is
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