National Catfish Day

Presidential proclamation by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on June 25, 1987.

National Catfish Day is observed as the anniversary of President Reagan's address on the importance of catfish as both income and food to society.

They can be found on all continents except Antarctica. The greatest concentration of sensory organs on a catfish is located on their whiskers, also known as barbels. Catfish develop up to four pairs of whiskers. Catfish can survive from eight to 20 years in the wild, depending on the species.

Catfish are raised in fresh water ponds only about four to six feet deep. Farm raised catfish are taught to eat feed pellets that float on top of the water. Wild catfish are bottom feeders. Catfish are scaleless, a characteristic of catfishes distinguishing them from most other teleost fish. One catfish can lay up to 4,000 eggs a year per pound of body weight.

Because it's a grain-fed, farmed fish, catfish has a consistently sweet, mild taste. It absorbs other flavors readily. The moist, dense meat is firm and has less flake than the typical whitefish. Fresh catfish meat is white to off-white, sometimes pinkish, with noticeable translucency and iridescence.