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Crawfish Culture

Crawfish Culture. Steve Gabel Extension Area Specialized Agent Aquaculture. Essential Ingredients for Commercial Crawfish Development. Good Soil Adequate Water Source (65 gpm) Aeration/Filtration Screen Efficient Traps Reliable Bait Source Labor – management, harvest, marketing Markets.

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Crawfish Culture

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  1. Crawfish Culture Steve Gabel Extension Area Specialized Agent Aquaculture

  2. Essential Ingredients for Commercial Crawfish Development • Good Soil • Adequate Water Source (65 gpm) • Aeration/Filtration Screen • Efficient Traps • Reliable Bait Source • Labor – management, harvest, marketing • Markets

  3. Crawfish Production Schedule April – Pond Construction Completed May-June – Ponds Stocked with Crawfish and Drained June-August – Crawfish Forage Crop Planted and Grown November – Ponds Flooded April – Crawfish Harvest Begins June – Ponds Drained, Forage Planted

  4. Water Quality Tests Crawfish DO Finfish DO pH TAN Nitrite Chloride Hardness Alkalinity Iron Sulfides

  5. Location Topography: flat, 6 inch contours Soils: >15% clay content Water Availability: 65 gpm

  6. Pond Construction Levees: 3:1 slope 3 feet tall 1-2 feet freeboard 1-15 foot top width All weather top Clean

  7. Pond Construction

  8. Typical NC Crawfish Pond

  9. Crawfish Pond Circulation

  10. Paddlewheel Aerator

  11. Pond Stocking • 1000 lbs per acre • X 30 crawfish per lb. • 30,000 per acre • - 50% survival • 60,000 crawfish per acre • - 400 young per 4” female • 150 females per acre • 30 crawfish per lb. • 5 lbs. of females per acre

  12. Pond Stocking 5 lbs. of females per acre - 20% gravid females 25 lbs. of females per acre X 1:1 male:female 50 lbs. of crawfish per acre

  13. Female Male

  14. Gravid Female Egg Stages None White Yellow Tan Brown Black

  15. Stocking Distribute 50-75 lbs. evenly throughout the pond

  16. Stocking Drain Pond Slowly: 0.5-1.0 inch per day

  17. Stocking Draining faster than 0.5-1.0 inches per day

  18. Forage 10,000 lbs. Per acre Withstand a Flood Low Decay Rate

  19. Forage -Grain Sorghum (Milo) -Sorghum-Sudan Grass -Rice

  20. Fall Flooding • Date Depends on: • Temperature • Vegetation • Pump Capacity • Water Circulation

  21. Fall Flooding Must Maintain Dissolved Oxygen Levels: >3 ppm - - - - - - - Optimum <2 ppm - - - - - - - Stressful <1.5 ppm - - - - - - Lethal

  22. Fall Flooding Aeration/Filtration

  23. Fall Flooding Aeration/Filtration

  24. Fall Flooding Crawfish emerge from burrows -

  25. Fall Flooding - Some females with eggs -

  26. Fall Flooding - Some females with young-of-year -

  27. Growth Rates Egg Maturation: 6 – 32 weeks Incubation: 2 – 12 weeks Maturation: 8 – 20 weeks 16 – 64 weeks

  28. Harvesting 20 Pyramid traps Per acre

  29. Harvesting ¼ lbs. Bait per trap: Oily fish like shad or herring works better in cooler weather

  30. Harvesting ¼ lbs. Bait per trap: Manufactured bait easier to work with in warmer temps

  31. Harvesting Crawfish Combines Make Harvesting Easier

  32. Harvesting

  33. Harvesting

  34. Harvesting

  35. Harvesting

  36. Holding Keep them cool and moist!

  37. Marketing Retail: Restaurants Seafood Markets Individuals NCDA Farmer’s Markets: Raleigh Lumberton Greensboro-Triad

  38. Marketing

  39. Synergistic Enterprises

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