Catfish processing plants in west Alabama desire catfish to weigh between 1-4 pounds so they can be easily processed on mechanized lines. Catfish weighing above this range are considered "Big Fish" and can result in a reduced price or no compensation to farmers due to the added expense of hand filleting these fish and lack of a market for this size. Catfish farmers in west Alabama have an issue with oversized catfish in their production ponds due to harvest inefficiencies and the use of old ponds with uneven bottoms. The majority of the ponds in west Alabama have not been renovated since they were built decades ago with only 741 total acres renovated since 2000 (currently 17,450 acres in production). This can lead to pond erosion which can allow catfish to escape the seine net during harvest by burrowing in the mud or swimming under the net. These "Big Fish" remain in the pond for multiple production cycles costing farmers money by consuming additional feed. In 2018, it was estimated that 20% of all pond inventories in west Alabama consisted of "Big Fish" that can have zero value to the farmers. In spring 2019, a survey was mailed to catfish producers in west Alabama to determine the production factors leading to large "Big Fish" inventories and provide details to develop base enterprise budgets. Additionally, the catfish industry respondents provided insight into their strategies to manage and mitigate the oversized fish issue on their farms. From the returned survey, it was estimated that 11.2 million and 14.1 million pounds of "Big Fish" were harvested in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Total production of catfish in Alabama during those years was 81.4 and 79.7 million pounds, indicating that "Big Fish" represented 14 and 18 percent of all production. This equates to a total loss of $4.6 and $6.1 million in potential sales revenue or $99,584 and $133,144 loss per farm in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The most common method farmers use to control "Big Fish" is to hire a custom seiner to re-seine their ponds multiple times after harvest. This is an additional expense incurred by farmers to clean out ponds before starting a new production cycle. For producers that use this approach this has become a necessary expense to ensure all fish are harvested out of the ponds on time so fish do not become "Big Fish." Data analysis is ongoing to develop economically viable scenarios to reduce the impact of "Big Fish" to help increase profitability on commercial catfish farms.