Freshwater crayfish are a thriving and vital part of freshwater aquaculture. Red claw crayfish are popular food in many parts of the country, and crayfish are important members of the freshwater wildlife world. Learning about crayfish aquaculture is important for anyone involved in the restaurant or fisheries industries.

What do crayfish eat? How often do they breed? Do they molt? These are all questions important to anyone that is a crayfish farmer or a crayfish fishery purveyor. Learn about these basics of crayfish and make sure your crayfish education and training includes:

1. Learning the basics of the crayfish life cycle.

2. Determining commercial regulations for crayfish farming.

3. Understanding how crayfish farming and fisheries operate.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get training to help you understand crayfish basics

Crayfish vendors and farmers must understand the basics of a crayfish's life cycle, including its basic diet and environmental requirements. Learn about crayfish to be able to breed and sell healthy, top of the line specimens.

I recommend: Go to the Minnesota Sea Grant website to read a study on crayfish aquaculture. It will teach you the basics about crayfish life and harvesting. The North Central Regional Aquaculture Center also conducted a crayfish study that is available online. The report will educate you about crayfish aquaculture and threats to crayfish life.

Learn about commercial regulations for crayfish farming

Crayfish farmers, whether independently operating or farming as part of a company, are subject to commercial rules and regulations. This is done both to ensure the safety of the consumer and to guarantee that crayfish continue to thrive as a species. Learn about regulations for crayfish farms.

I recommend: The state regulations for farming crayfish in Florida are outlined on FarmingCrawfish.com. While regulations will vary slightly by state, the guide will give you a good overview. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department lists important regulations and restrictions for farming and owning red claw crayfish in the state.

Find training for operating crayfish farms

It's important for crayfish vendors to understand how a crayfish fishery or crayfish farm is run and operated. Crayfish farming is a booming industry in some parts of the country, and the crayfish farm can be a small or large operation. Learn what is involved with crayfish farming and what regulations crayfish farmers must follow.

I recommend: The British Columbia Shellfish Grower's Association outlines the basics to get started in crayfish farming. Learn the foundation to understanding the needs and requirements of crayfish. Join the Louisiana Crayfish Farmer's Association and attend its annual crayfish conferences to network with fellow crayfish fisheries and learn more about crayfish farming.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Learn about current diseases, health issues and crayfish problems so you can be prepared to deal with them and keep your crayfish healthy.

Crayfish aquaculture, or the sale of crayfish, can be a profitable business venture if you buy your crayfish from reputable crayfish farms and crayfish vendors. Some vendors sell live crayfish and others sell frozen crayfish. In addition to whole crayfish, consider selling crayfish tails, crayfish seasonings and crayfish dishes.

Making sure that your inventory is varied allows you to meet the needs of a lot of customers, including seafood restaurants and individuals. Consider these suggestions when you purchase your crayfish:

1. Appeal to seafood enthusiasts and seafood restaurants by offering live crayfish.

2. Accommodate customers who want a quick and easy alternative to preparing live crayfish.

3. Anticipate the needs of your customers by offering crayfish recipes and premade dishes.

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Sell live crayfish

Seafood restaurants and some individuals may want to purchase live crayfish from a local crayfish supplier. Finding reputable and reliable crayfish vendors allows you to meet these needs. Some vendors may only sell live crayfish during crayfish season. Many of the larger vendors can sell live crayfish all year long because of their extensive crayfish breeding programs.

I recommend: Kyle LeBlanc Crawfish Farms offers live crayfish and boiled crayfish. It offers discounts for large orders. You can pick up the crayfish at the airport or have it shipped straight to your door. Louisiana Crawfish is a crayfish source that sells crayfish by the pound. It offers door to door shipping year round.

Offer frozen crayfish tails

Customers may come to you for crayfish tails, most often sold in frozen packs. They are available with or without the fat from the crayfish. Most of these frozen crayfish tails are pre-cooked. Keeping packages of frozen crayfish tails allows you to accommodate customers who need a quick and easy alternative to cooking and shelling a whole crayfish.

I recommend: Cajun Grocer has packaged crayfish tails all year long. It offers live crayfish and boiled crayfish during crayfish season. All of the crayfish this company sells comes from crayfish farms and crayfish fisheries in Louisiana. Most of the crayfish are freshwater crayfish and red claw crayfish. You can get wholesale prices when you make orders over 100 lbs. Linton's Seafood has pre-cooked crayfish tails. You can order the entire tail or only the meat. Discounts are available for large orders.

Offer crayfish recipe ideas

Some of your customers may want a new idea for preparing their crayfish. Offering these customers premade crayfish dishes or the necessary seasonings and additions to make crayfish recipes will help your customers to find these new ideas.

I recommend: French Market Foods offers a good selection of premade crayfish or crawfish dishes including crawfish etouffee and crawfish cornbread. Discounts are available on large orders. Zatarain's has pre packaged crayfish boil seasonings. This company offers wholesale prices on large orders.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  A customer who purchases live crayfish from you may ask, 'What do crayfish eat?' Being able to offer these customers a selection of feeder fish or commercially available algae discs will show the customer that you are knowledgeable in crayfish aquaculture.

Crayfish season usually starts in November or December and goes through June or July. The actual dates depend on the rainfall and other environmental factors during the year. The season dates will affect the size and price of the crayfish available. Generally, the later in the season, the bigger the crayfish; however, this is also when they are the least expensive.

When you decide to purchase crayfish for your business, you have to consider the actual cost of the crayfish as well as the amount of time you will have to prepare the crayfish. Consider the following crayfish pricing and costs to make an informed decision:

1. Save money on live crayfish, but be ready for a longer preparation time.

2. Lessen the time spent on preparation, but not on money by ordering boiled crayfish.

3. Spend more money on frozen crayfish tails to minimize preparation time.

Action Steps
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Purchase live crayfish for your company crayfish meal

If you want to have your own crayfish boil, ordering live crayfish is the only way to do this. The price you pay is dependent upon the size of the crayfish you purchase. The bigger the crawfish, the more expensive the price. However, the bigger tails mean more meat per pound.

I recommend: Guided Ventures offers sacks of mixed sized crayfish for under $4 per pound. This crayfish farm catches the crayfish daily for sales. Al's Seafood is a crayfish fishery that sells live crawfish for around $3 per pound plus shipping and handling, which adds around $2 per pound to your total. Discounts are given for large orders.

Order boiled crayfish to minimize preparation time

Boiled crawfish is a traditional food in Louisiana. You can purchase crayfish boiled in Louisiana and have it shipped to you for an authentic Cajun experience. The price you pay is dependent upon the number of pounds you purchase.

I recommend: Louisiana Crawfish sells boiled red claw crayfish. Prices start at around $6 per pound; however, quantity discounts are available. Cajun Grocer sells seasoned, boiled freshwater crayfish in packages of 3 pounds to 90 pounds. Expect to pay around $10 for three pounds or $250 for 90 pounds.

Consider frozen crayfish tails

Frozen crayfish tails are ideal if you are making dishes such as crawfish etouffee or crayfish pasta. When you order these, you can expect to pay more per pound for domestic tails than you will pay for tails imported from countries such as China. I

I recommend: Kyle LeBlanc Crawfish Farms is a crayfish aquaculture operation. One call to this company can answer all of your questions, including 'What do crayfish eat?' You can even find a crayfish recipe to fit any taste on this website. Prices for frozen crawfish tails are $10 to $15 per pack, depending on whether you want imported or domestic. Always Fresh Fish is a crayfish source that provides ample crayfish information. You can expect to pay around $11 per pound for frozen crawfish tails.

Crayfish, also called crawfish, crawdads and mudbugs, are freshwater creatures that look like small lobsters. There are many key terms you should be familiar with when entering into any type of crayfish business, including restaurants, crayfish farming, shipping or reselling. You'll need to know the length of seasons of live crayfish and how they are shipped, some popular types of crayfish such as the Red Swamp crayfish, the classification of crayfish, behaviors of crayfish like burrowing and significant events having to do with crayfish, like crayfish boils.

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Crayfish season

Crayfish are not always available live all year long. The typical live crayfish season for crayfish in Louisiana is from January through June, although some years it can start as early as November and end as late as July.

I recommend: Cajun-Shop.com goes into more detail about Louisiana crawfish seasons.

Crawfish boils

Crawfish boils are popular events where friends and family gather to boil and serve crawfish.

I recommend: Kyle LeBlanc Crawfish Farms provides more detailed information on crawfish boils, including the most popular times of year that they occur. Make sure to stock up on crawfish during these times.

Crustacean

Crayfish are crustaceans. Crustaceans are a class from the largest animal group on Earth, the arthropods, which means they have segmented bodies with six legs or more. Crustaceans have a hard outer shell and two pairs or antennae.

I recommend: Find lots more information about crustaceans, including crayfish, from the Oceanside Meadows Innstitute for the Arts and Sciences.

Red swamp crayfish

The most popular type of crayfish in the United States is the red swamp crayfish.

I recommend: The University of Arkansas provides information on the red swamp crayfish. Check out photos of red swamp crayfish at Jungle Mouse.

Burrower

Most crayfish are burrowers: they live some part of their lives confined in burrows they excavate. There are three types of burrowers -- primary, secondary and tertiary, depending on how much of their lives are spent in burrows.

I recommend: Find more information on crayfish burrowers at the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. TheFishSite provides more details on the burrowing of crayfish.

Live delivery

Crayfish suppliers will usually guarantee live delivery of crayfish, which ships refrigerated in dry ice, during crayfish season, as long as the customers follow certain guidelines.

I recommend: For an example of a live delivery guarantee, check out Worm Man's Worm Farm, a company that sells many live animals including crayfish. Authentic Louisiana Seafood ships live crayfish airport to airport.