Black Belt. The nineteenth-century cotton plantations and sharecropper farms have long vanished from the Black Belt region along with many of the dairies and large cattle operations that replaced them. Pine trees have been planted where suitable, and the pulp and paper industries thrive in this region today. Cattle operations remain an important industry, and there are still a few row-crop farms. Catfish farms and other forms of aquaculture, including shrimp, crawfish, and tilapia, have grown rapidly in this area because of favorable soils and the relatively low cost of pond construction. Hunting and wildlife management have also become important in the Black Belt, providing some income for landowners.