A. Species
Scientific name: Procambarus zonangulus
Common name(s): Red swamp crayfish, Red swamp crawfish
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Data Deficient
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Louisiana
Country/Region: USA / Louisiana State
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Louisiana State / Atchafalaya River Basin
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 1999
End Year: 2020
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat and Wild species sourced from the wild but reared/cultivated in a managed site
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence and Income generation from trade (individual/household/community)
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat and Wild species sourced from the wild but reared/cultivated in a managed site
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Data on wild crayfish landings were provided by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Trip Ticket Program and included wild crayfish harvest data from 1999–2020.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The study explains that the wild harvest of crayfish in Louisiana is likely non-sustainable (vs proportion from aquaculture). The harvest of wild crayfish is decreasing while the demand grows, a trend leading to a fishery that cannot be sustained through wild harvest alone. Similarly, the price of crawfish is constantly increasing because of the rising demand and lower supply. Furthermore, seasonality of wild crawfish harvest relies on many environmental variables that allow for spawning and growth of individuals to reach a size desirable for market. Crop rotational systems that include crawfish often involve a rice harvesting component. In one rotational approach, crawfish and rice are rotated in the same physical location within a year, and this practice is conducted for several consecutive years.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Socio-economically, since 2000 less than 20% of Louisiana’s crayfish harvests on average have come from the wild fishery (LDWF, Freshwater Fishery Report 2019), which clearly demonstrates either environmental changes resulting in low catch, the dominance of the crayfish aquaculture industry or a combination of both. This aquaculture increases demand and price such that wild populations cannot sustain historical harvest levels, while subject to other pressures from environmental conditions and disease (e.g., emergence of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)). Stepping up the contribution of aquaculture will be required to make this industry sustainable into the future.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: ocio-economically, since 2000 less than 20% of Louisiana’s crayfish harvests on average have come from the wild fishery (LDWF, Freshwater Fishery Report 2019), which clearly demonstrates either environmental changes resulting in low catch, the dominance of the crayfish aquaculture industry or a combination of both. This aquaculture increases demand and price such that wild populations cannot sustain historical harvest levels, while subject to other pressures from environmental conditions and disease (e.g., emergence of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)). The consumption of crayfish will be sustainable only if supported by aquaculture and so the practice of crayfishing will be unsustainable.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Animal health - One threat to the success of the crawfish aquaculture industry is the annual recurrence and spread of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). WSSV is highly pathogenic and often induces mass mortality in crustacean aquaculture operations.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
The study concludes by mentioning that knowledge concerning the virulence and infectivity of the Louisiana strain of WSSV in native crawfish and other crustacean species will be useful for investigating disease prevention and potential management strategies. Future work in understanding how environmental variables such as temperature, dissolved oxygen and rainfall affect crawfish susceptibility and viral spread throughout a time course of WSSV infection could help explain differences in WSSV outbreaks and positivity rates annually. Future years are projected to be characterized by increases in daily high and low temperatures. Because crawfish ponds are of shallow depths, warmer atmospheric temperatures will also affect water temperatures. If warmer springs and summers are observed, the subjection of pond reared crawfish to intermediate temperatures that increase mortality associated with WSSV are likely to be observed. Additionally, warmer temperatures early in the year could lead to ranges of weekly temperature much more variable than are currently seen. Such abrupt changes in temperature also add increase potential for mortality of crawfish.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2022-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
in Wild Capture and Aquaculture" (2022). LSU Master's Theses. 5653.
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/5653
Date of record entry: 2022-12-10