Culture of Red Swamp Crawfish,

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Culture of Red Swamp Crawfish, Procambarus
clarkii, in the U. S.
By Leonard Lovshin Department of Fisheries and
Allied Aquacultures Auburn University, Alabama,
USA
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Distribution
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Natural habitat - wetlands and swamps in
southern U. S., especially in the Mississippi
River drainage.
Dry wetland
Flooded wetland
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Food habits - omnivore small invertebrates, veget
ation, detritus, attached algae Reproduction
Sexual maturity - 6 to 8 months Male deposits
sperm packet in female Water Temperature -
between 70 and 800F, May and June in Alabama
Female borrows into wet soil eggs are laid and
hatch in borrow no larval stages, eggs hatch
into tiny crawfish soils containing borrows
must hold water well as crawfish and eggs must
remain moist Females and young crawfish leave
borrows in Fall during flooding
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Female with young
Chimneys protecting crawfish borrows
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Production cycle 1. Ponds drained in late spring
to encourage mature crawfish to mate and
borrow 2. A forage crop is planted in dry pond,
rice is a common choice. Rice can be planted only
as a forage ( late planting ) or as a grain crop
( early planting ). 3. Pond is reflooded in the
Fall when young crawfish are ready to
forage. 4. Young crawfish forage on decaying
vegetation and reach a harvestable size by early
Spring.
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Crawfish ponds
Pumped well water splashed over screens to
increase dissolved oxygen
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Seeding Rice by plane
Rice Forage
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Aquatic plants as forage
Decaying forage
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Paddlewheel aerator to prevent low dissolved
oxygen due to decaying vegetation
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Crawfish sample to check for harvest size
Harvest lane cut in forage to set traps
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Crawfish trap
Running traps
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Formulated Bait Pellets
Cut fresh fish bait
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Harvest boat
Hydraulic wheels to move boat
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Harvest boat crossing levee
Producer grading crawfish to size during harvest
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Crawfish yields 800 to 1,000 kg/ha/yr
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Harvested crawfish
Purging crawfish after harvest to clean
intestines
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Grading crawfish to size
Live crawfish transported to market
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Crawfish processing plant
Peeling crawfish tail meat
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Frozen tail meat
Frozen whole crawfish for export
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Boiled Crawfish
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Advantages 1. feeds low on the food chain 2. easy
to reproduce and culture 3. easy to transport
live, moist and cool environment Disadvantages 1.
high expense in harvest ( bait and labor ) 2. U.
S. market is regional, some export to Europe 3.
low dressout percentage, 18 to 20 of whole
animal are tails 4. lower priced imports from
China 5. sale price depends on strength of the
wild catch
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Louisiana
In 2001 Louisiana produced 27.7 million lbs from
84,635 acres worth 36.8 million dollars. 90 of
farmed crawfish in the U. S.
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The End