Technical Abstract: Channel catfish spawns were incubated under controlled conditions to determine the effect of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration on development and survival. Routine metabolic rate and limiting oxygen concentration were determined on eggs, sac fry and swim-up fry. Eight channel catfish spawns were split into two equal portions and aerated with either air supplied by a blower or with liquid oxygen (LOX). Dissolved oxygen concentration averaged 7.42 ± 0.03 (92.5% saturation) and 18.40 ± 0.28 mg/L (230% saturation) through hatching in the low and high oxygen treatments, respectively. Eggs hatched 6 h earlier in the low oxygen treatment but reached swim-up stage 31 h later. Survival to swim-up stage in the low oxygen treatment was 16.4% lower than in the high oxygen treatment (72.5% vs. 88.9%, respectively). Oxygen consumption increased through swim-up stage as expected. However, the limiting oxygen concentration peaked during the last day of incubation at 87% saturation and decreased to 40.1% saturation upon hatching. Premature hatching was observed in the low oxygen treatment during the last day of incubation, when the limiting oxygen concentration approached the ambient oxygen saturation. A survey of DO management in 26 commercial catfish hatcheries in the Mississippi delta was conducted. DO saturation in the hatching troughs ranged from 45.2% to 100.2%, with only nine hatcheries (35% of the hatcheries sampled) having a DO saturation greater than 95%. Seventeen hatcheries (65%) had a DO saturation less than that maintained in the low oxygen treatment in our hatching experiment and could experience greater mortality through swim-up than we observed. We recommend that hatcheries initially run well water through a packed column, and use blowers or liquid oxygen to maintain the DO concentration in hatching troughs at or above air saturation as eggs near hatching.