Ups and downs of red claw crayfish farming in Ecuador

摘要

Most people like to hear and read about success stories in aquaculture, however, only through experience can we improve and avoid making the same mistakes over and over again. However, this article does not describe a success story, but it offers some salutary lessons for us all as things did not behave quite as forecast. Hopefully, it will help other investors and farmers avoid such experiences of their own in the future. In 1994-95 a new species of a freshwater crustacean, the Australian red clawcrayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) was introduced into Ecuador as it appeared to have an interesting potential for aquaculture (Salame 1995, Romero 1997b). Expected prices, based on previous reports, were in the range of US10.00-14.00 dollar/kg for wholeanimals with weights over 60 g. Much attention was focused on this new industry, and consequently investors decided to develop farms in the coastal provinces of Ecuador, with most of the larger farms located in the province of Guayas.