Development of a Management Plan for Wild‐Caught Crawfish in Louisiana
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PRESENTATION
Jay V. Huner and Mark Konikoff piku@classicnet.net
Louisiana Ecrevisse, 428 Hickory Hill Drive, Boyce, LA 71409
Abstract
From 182,000 to 23,000,000 kg of wild crawfish are harvested in Louisiana annually, with most coming from the Atchafalaya Basin in the south‐central part of the state. Fifteen hundred licensed fishermen harvest crawfish annually. With average values of $1.25‐1.45 per kg, a good season represents a valuable economic engine from fishermen to end users. The rapid development of crawfish aquaculture in the region over the past quarter century served to stabilize crawfish supplies.
Unlike other commercial fisheries, both finfish and crustacean, no management plan has been developed for wild‐caught crawfish. The Louisiana Crawfish Promotion and Research Board has provided us with funding to develop such a plan. The overall factor controlling wild‐caught crawfish production is the annual watering and dewatering cycle of the Atchafalaya Basin controlled by the volume of water within the Mississippi River system because the Atchafalaya Basin is its main distributary. Summer and fall droughts impact survival of brood crawfish and hatchlings in burrows and the availability of nursery areas.
Widespread misunderstandings of basic crawfish biology of the harvested crawfish have resulted in misguided regulations on trap meshes and demands for “seasons.” A further complication is the social‐legal issue of access to crawfish on private lands when they are seasonally flooded. Actions directed towards reducing habitat deterioration are adversely impacted by the rapid deposition of sediments within the Basin.
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