| Summary: | The catfish industry is important to the United States economy. The present study determined the levels of microbial indicators and the prevalence of <i>Listeria</i> spp. and <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> at catfish farms and catfish processing plants. Live fish, water, and sediment samples were analyzed in farms. Fish skin, fillets, chiller water, and environmental surfaces were assessed at the processing plants both during operation and after sanitation. Live fish had 2% prevalence of <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i>, while sediment and water were negative for <i>Listeria</i>. Live fish skin counts averaged 4.2, 1.9, and 1.3 log CFU/cm<sup>2</sup> aerobic (APC), total coliform (TCC) and generic <i>Escherichia coli</i> counts, respectively. Water and sediment samples averaged 4.8 and 5.8 log CFU/g APC, 1.9 and 2.3 log CFU/g TCC, and 1.0 and 1.6 log CFU/g generic <i>E. coli</i> counts, respectively. During operation, <i>Listeria</i> prevalence was higher in fillets before (57%) and after (97%) chilling than on fish skin (10%). Process chiller water had higher (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05) APC, TCC, and <i>Listeria</i> prevalence than clean chiller water. After sanitation, most sampling points in which <i>Listeria</i> spp. were present had high levels of APC (>2.4 log CFU/100 cm<sup>2</sup>). APC combined with <i>Listeria</i> spp. could be a good approach to understand microbial contamination in catfish plants.
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