Management Practices for Production of the Red Swamp Crayfish in Earthen Ponds without Planted Forage

摘要

Crayfish farming has been an integral part of the culture of the southeastern United States, particularly in Louisiana. Crayfish farming arose because increases in product demand could not be satisfied by the traditional capture fisheries centered inthe Atchafalaya River basin. Thus, the annual crayfish harvest in Louisiana is currently derived from both capture and culture fisheries. The culture fisheries use shallow ponds that are annually drained and refilled. Volunteer vegetation, for example, naturally occurring vegetation, or a planted agronomic crop, most often rice, is used as an indirect nutrient resource. After the planting of an agronomic crop, the pond is eventually flooded in preparation for future harvest by trap. This practice takesadvantage of the annual cycle of flooding and drying that is characteristic of the natural habitat of crayfish. In the absence of open water, the crayfish burrow on the bottom or along the perimeter of the pond to a depth where water is available to maintain sufficiently moist gills for adequate transfer of oxygen. Under these conditions, crayfish can survive for extended periods of time.