The first red drum farm was constructed circa 1990, in Palacios, Texas. Currently, there are six red drum farms operating in the United States, and they are all in Texas within a 50 mile radius of each other. All six farms have hatcheries for spawning. The farms range in size from 125 acres to 500 acres. Farming methods have not really changed since the first farm was built. Broodfish are still spawned using essentially the same photothermal regimes developed in the 1980’s. Fingerling are produced in outdoor earthen ponds, much as they were 30 years ago.
The primary constraint to entering the sector is land. A prospective red drum farm needs a suitable water supply for fingerling production and growout. Coastal land with access to salt/brackish water is increasingly scarce. The farm needs to have a requisite amount of land to produce enough fish for weekly sales, ideally without gaps in production. Recirculating technologies do not need the amount of land necessary for outdoor pond production, but they cannot compete at present.
The challenges to bringing a redfish to market are many. Toxic algal blooms are a seasonal threat. Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and freezing weather, are always a potential threat in any given year . As of 2021, the USDA has included foodfish in the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm Raised Fish program (ELAP). This program covers losses associated with declared natural disasters, and it helped the redfish industry to survive the February 2021 freeze event in Texas.