Crayfish breeding. Crayfish - the benefits and harms of crayfish, as well as the composition of their useful components; description with photo, how to catch, choose and cook

Such a business idea does not require large expenses and can bring a stable income for six months - from May to October. The seasonal form of this income is perhaps the only drawback of such a business. Before you do this business, you need to determine the demand in the market - whether it exists in principle, and if so, how big. Of course, you can breed crayfish only for your own consumption, but it is much more pleasant not only to enjoy the final product, but also to have a stable income for a long time.

What is the market demand?

To start breeding crayfish as a business, it is advisable to call restaurants and supermarkets with a proposal to sell crayfish through constant supplies from your farm. Large supermarkets in the country have fish departments that sell not only fish, but also crayfish. However, in many wholesale hypermarkets (which, by the way, restaurants and cafes buy products from), there is no such product. Therefore, it's up to you - by calling all the major points of sale, you will surely find customers for yourself. And this is a sure signal that the crayfish breeding business plan of this way of trading will pay off in the future.

Another way to create a customer base is to simply sell the product through 2-3 acquaintances or friends. They, in turn, will tell their friends. In other words, word of mouth will start working. But in order to ensure a constant influx of customers, it is necessary to adhere to several basic conditions: high quality goods, prices that are lower than in supermarkets and other sellers, and, as an option, service improvement - home delivery of crayfish. Thus, in one season it is possible to form a permanent customer base.

Selecting the type of cancer farm

Everything has been decided with the client base, the most important part of the business plan remains - the direct organization of a cancer farm at home. Artificial breeding of crayfish is divided into two types, depending on the form of farming: breeding of crayfish in ponds and factory type of breeding. The first type is considered the most profitable, since the process is laborious and significant capital investments are required for the industrial scale of doing business.

At home, lake and river crayfish are bred. Raising crayfish as a business in our climate is considered impractical, since temperatures that are low for reproduction prevail most of the year. The exception is the southern regions of the country. It is very difficult to grow crayfish to a marketable appearance - they quickly hibernate at low water temperatures below 17 degrees and their development stops indefinitely. Therefore, the most optimal and best technology for breeding crayfish for our latitudes involves the creation of closed-type artificial reservoirs. Therefore, it is necessary to breed lake crayfish, because we need to get the finished product in the shortest possible time.

The technology of building reservoirs for breeding

The ideal option is a reservoir (or preferably several reservoirs) within your land plot. Breeding crayfish at home is beneficial due to the close placement of water bodies, you can always control the entire breeding process. In addition, it will significantly secure the business - there will be no danger that someone will want to collect your entire source of income.

So, on the territory of your site, several reservoirs have been dug. Their depth can be 1-3 meters (in some cases it can be 6 meters), the area of ​​​​one artificial pond is from 30 to 60 square meters. The bottom should be rocky and covered with sand, and the banks should be clay (so that crayfish can burrow into them). Running water, as noted above, is not necessary for breeding crayfish. The main thing is to have a source of water nearby so that you can fill the reservoirs with water and periodically change it.

Drainage pipes are also needed, which will carry out the function of draining and pipes through which water will flow into the ponds. The drain must be covered with a wooden net. Metal mesh is harmful to crayfish, and they will easily bite into an ordinary fishing net. When all the plums are ready, you can start filling the reservoir with water and launch crayfish there. It is necessary to renew the water once every 2-3 weeks, while replacing no more than 30% of the water, so as not to disturb the formed microclimate.

Home breeding of crayfish is also possible in aquariums, and this is one of the most profitable ways. Firstly, this is a much more convenient catch, secondly, it is a constant maintenance of the optimum temperature, and thirdly, it is not necessary to constantly replace the water, it is enough to install cleaning filters. In addition, crayfish molt in an aquarium more often - up to 3 times a year, while in reservoirs they molt 1 time. Molting is a direct evidence of the growth of crayfish (the shell becomes tighter), which means that the product will be ready for sale faster.

The only drawback of aquariums is the limitation on the area of ​​placement. It is impossible to install more aquariums than the room allows. In addition, the cost of electricity and space heating increases. But at the same time, the volume of production also increases. But if you already have customers who are willing to constantly buy crayfish, you don't have to worry about profitability. The cost of crayfish will pay off the cost of the money spent.

You have a client base, you know which crayfish to breed, where to grow them and in what conditions. The only thing left is to decide where to buy crayfish for breeding and how to keep them correctly? If you live near a river or any other body of water in which these invertebrates are found, you can catch them yourself using special fishing rods, strings (cylindrical mesh) or hemstitches. Catching can take place from mid-summer to the end of November. In dark waters, the best catch will be in the evening, in transparent waters - during the onset of twilight. It is also desirable to catch crayfish in rainy weather and a warm night.

If for you this is a rather complicated process that takes a lot of time, there is another option. Selling crayfish for breeding is one of the ways to earn money for local residents who live near water bodies and are engaged in fishing. Usually a kilogram of crayfish costs 100 rubles, so you can buy a large number. It is best to buy underyearlings - crayfish that appeared this year, it is from them that you can get a good profit in the future.

• Regularly monitor the renewal of water so that it does not stagnate;
• Maintain the optimum temperature for the full nutrition of adult crayfish - it is 17-21 degrees, for larvae - a few degrees higher;
• Cancers, like all other representatives of the animal world, can get sick. Industrial crayfish farming involves maintaining optimal conditions, and in each country it is different. But everywhere the requirements are the same: standard hydrochemical and temperature conditions;
• You can feed crayfish with larvae, insects, fish, crustaceans, worms. But before direct capture for sale, it is necessary to put them on a special "diet": feed them only with nettles, potatoes and other vegetation. It is not recommended to give fresh fish, because crayfish will fight while eating, losing their claws and legs, and, as a result, their presentation. These are the basic conditions for breeding crayfish.

Costs, input quantity and liquidity

Of great importance is the acquisition of females with live eggs on pleopods (legs under the tail) and their transportation to crayfish farms. In order to grow a ton of crayfish, it is necessary to purchase about 450-600 fertilized females, which are caught from the natural habitat. With an average female weight of about 160 grams, about 80,000 grams of live weight comes out, which is 80 kg. crayfish, which must be purchased for breeding.

Thus, it is possible to calculate the profitability of breeding crayfish: 80 kilograms of crayfish at a purchase price of 100 rubles will cost 8,000 rubles. Let's add to this the single costs for the organization and creation of artificial reservoirs - about 180,000 rubles. It turns out 188 thousand rubles of starting capital for conducting such a business. Now you can calculate how much profit these funds will bring. At the same time, we take into account that you have drawn up a sales plan and the customer base is already ready.

Suppose that in one season 500 female crayfish give birth to 13,000 live offspring (under optimal conditions). The market value of 1 kilogram of crayfish is about 200-250 rubles. Adult crayfish weigh up to 300 grams, which in total will be about 3.5-3.9 tons of ready-to-sell goods. In total, subject to the full sale of crayfish and their sale at wholesale cost, 500-700 thousand rubles of income is obtained, of which 312-512 thousand rubles are net profit for the season. As you can see, such a way of doing business as breeding crayfish at home is a cost-effective way to make a profit.

These conclusions were given after conducting experiments on breeding and growing crayfish by one of the domestic scientists. It is possible that they will be useful in the future to you:

After 1,400 fertilized females gave birth, young crayfish were removed from the cells from the females. Instead, 600 males were placed there, and despite the fact that fertilization took place on time - in early November, this did not give any positive results. From this it was concluded that older females should not be kept in the pool for more than 3-4 months.

It is also impossible to keep old females for the reason that during breeding it was noticed that they eat their own cubs. This means that after the females lay eggs, it is necessary to move them to another pool, and leave the eggs separately for a year - until crayfish appear and acquire hard shells.

Crayfish are very sensitive to changes in external conditions, therefore, immediately after being caught from their natural habitats and moving to a reservoir, they can crawl out of the water. Therefore, it is advisable to keep the crayfish in a basket for several weeks, and feed them there. After that, you can safely release crayfish into the pond - they will no longer climb to the surface.

Transportation is preferably carried out in containers covered from the inside with smooth straw or moss. Before releasing into the pond, pre-pour the crayfish from the watering can with warm water.

If you like this type of business, then you can additionally watch videos and educational materials about crayfish breeding, where each stage is clearly described and told. It is worth noting that the process of breeding and growing is quite interesting, and with due effort, it can grow from an ordinary hobby into a source of permanent income.

Their growth is determined by the confluence of these cancers for a long time. As you can imagine, blue crayfish are the obvious choice for homemade crayfish breeding.

There are two ways to breed crayfish. To begin with, you need your own artificial reservoir or a heating room with an area of ​​at least 20 m2 and several aquariums.

If you have your own pond, take care of a water purification and filtration system, because crayfish love clean water. A good choice would be German biofilters. In addition, hollow artificial stones should be placed in, which the crayfish will use as holes.

After these operations, you can import crayfish and start feeding them. For this, earthworms are suitable, which do not pollute the water. Now you can wait until the individuals begin to grow. After that, it will be possible to start catching some of the crayfish.

As an advantage of this method, it is possible to note the provision of natural conditions for the life of crayfish, which implies good. A: The fall of crayfish into hibernation leads to their molting once a year. And this has a bad effect on the size and growth of individuals.

If you have a free heated room, place several aquariums in it, fill them with sand, hollow stones or even bricks, and, well, aquatic plants. Air compressors should now be installed on aquariums, as well as filtration systems. Systems and compressors should be exactly aquarium, as they are much cheaper than those installed in reservoirs.

Import crayfish and start feeding them with the same earthworm, bloodworm or boiled porridge. Just avoid fatty foods so that the water doesn't become polluted. When already grown crayfish begin to multiply, you can start catching.

Under such conditions, crayfish grow faster and reach optimal sizes. However, you will have to pay a tidy sum for aquariums, filters and compressors - this is a definite minus.

Related videos

Freshwater crayfish is a crustacean that naturally occurs in streams, in the channels of slow-flowing rivers and lakes, in branches in river deltas and in wetlands around the world.

Crayfish are considered a delicacy, they are added to many dishes. There are about 300 freshwater species. Blue Florida crayfish are considered the most hardy and fleshy.

How crayfish are bred

For breeding crayfish, a special farm is created, which is a pond. Since natural ponds suitable for breeding crayfish are rare, they are often dug artificially. Crayfish do not like direct sunlight and prefer rocks and plants in the pond.

For crayfish breeding for commercial purposes, a pond of 1000 - 1200 m2 is usually dug with banks sloping down to make it easier to catch crayfish. The size of the pond may vary depending on how many crayfish you intend to breed.

Instead of a pond, you can use an aquarium with a volume of 75 liters. Many farms keep several aquariums and ponds at the same time, which allows you to keep a constant stream of growing crayfish.

5-15 animals are settled per square meter. For those who are just starting to grow crayfish, it is enough to purchase 12 pregnant crayfish females and put them into the pond. The total maturation time of crayfish is 6-9 months. To this must be added 3-4 months, when small crayfish grow in a separate pond or pool.

Pond water and brood require good care. It is very important to control water quality. You should monitor the level of acidity, the amount of ammonia, water hardness. The better the water in the reservoir, the better the result you will get.

For crayfish, it is important to provide the opportunity to hide. Like all crustaceans, crayfish shed their shells as they grow. This makes them vulnerable to attacks from their own kind. Onion skins, a tray with sections made of honeycomb propylene, and pipe trimmings can serve as a shelter for crayfish.

You need to feed crayfish before the onset of evening twilight, three times a week with a mixture of various types of grain or bread pellets.

An air supply system should be installed in the pond.

To create optimal conditions for breeding crayfish, you should empty and dry the pond once a year.

It is necessary to select crayfish for posterity in the spring. In June-August, the water in the pond should be drained so that the crayfish can burrow into the mud at the bottom and reproduce. In September, the pond can be filled with water again and you can start catching crayfish.

catching crayfish

Crayfish are caught when they have reached a certain size. Usually the weight of a mature cancer is from 35 to 100 grams.

Crayfish farmers use different techniques to catch them. The most effective is stream fishing. A stream of water is directed into the pond along an inclined plane. The crayfish react to the flow by climbing up the incline into the basket.

After catching crayfish, a certain number of individuals are selected as a reserve, and the remaining crayfish are sold.

Tip 3: Business Ideas: Raising Crayfish at Home

Crayfish breeding is one of the industrial technologies that biotech companies are involved in today. Of course, all the advantages in this field of activity belong to the United States, where this business brings a decent income to the country. In terms of breeding crayfish, Turkey is second on the list. But still this business is not only profitable, but also very laborious.

Crayfish breeding

There are two ways to implement this business: breed crayfish in a pond or factory breeding. In terms of benefits, the best way is the first, but both will be appropriate for home conditions.

For breeding crayfish, natural reservoirs of household or farm households and artificially created with a bottom sprinkled with sand or stones are suitable. Crayfish prefer sandy or clay soils, where there is silt, which they need to build burrow dwellings. The intensity of water exchange is also important for crayfish.

When self-breeding crayfish, special attention should be paid to the temperature of the water and its chemical composition. In winter, the reservoir should not freeze, because of the low temperature of the water, the crayfish will simply go into hibernation until the very spring, this does not contribute to their development and growth process. The optimum temperature is 18 degrees, it must be maintained in the pond all year round.

Separation of older and younger offspring is required from time to time in order to maintain normal development and growth of crayfish. In this case, crayfish are caught with a net.

How to start a business

First you need to buy females and males, deliver them to the reservoir. The female is able to lay up to 100 eggs, so you can focus on the amount of material purchased. It takes 5 years to cultivate a self-reproducing herd.

Crayfish are creatures that are inherent in cannibalism, so in April it is required to capture females, then transplant them into mother ponds. The water there should be clean, with a constant temperature - 21-22 degrees.

In about two years, crayfish mature, during this period they reach a length of 10-12 cm, weight - 40-70 g. The underyearlings, which also bring a good income, are often used for sale. In Russia, the most profitable for breeding are dry-toed and long-toed crayfish.

Crayfish need to be fed regularly. And although they are omnivorous, they can eat both the remains of fish and aquatic plants, you still need to carry out top dressing, which can be used as raw or boiled meat, fish, animal feed, vegetables. Food is usually laid out on lattice trays.

Further business development

In 4-5 years, you can already think about creating new reservoirs, increasing production capabilities. Of course, provided that it was possible to create a large self-reproducing herd of crayfish.

It is worth noting that there is little competition in this area, so retail and wholesale customers will appear quickly. Restaurants and cafes usually act as clients.

Crayfish breeding is a business that will pay off only after a few years, but it does not require a large investment.

In the process of catching and selling, the problem of preserving the caught crayfish always arises. That is why I learned a lot of interesting facts that allowed me to draw conclusions about the advisability of breeding and growing crayfish. This idea is not new. It is being successfully implemented in the southern regions of Russia and Ukraine. But here we will talk about the northern regions.

A feature of the life of crayfish in the central and northern regions of our country is that for a long period of crayfish fall into hibernation. This is the reason for their slow growth. But it is known that the larger the crayfish, the more they are valued. There is no such problem in the south.

In addition, freshwater crayfish are of two types: river and lake. River crayfish in the north are small. And lake crayfish, the so-called blue crayfish, grows to a respectable size even in the northern regions. In addition, this species is often exported. Therefore, I will talk specifically about blue crayfish.

In order to engage in this business, you must either own a lake or a pond, or have them relatively close by. If there are no crayfish in the lake or pond, then you can bring them and settle them. To avoid cannibalism, which is highly developed in crayfish, it is advisable to feed. For this, it is best to use ordinary earthworms. In this case, the water in the pond or lake will not be polluted. The owner of the pond can stop there. Further, it will be enough to catch a certain number of crayfish and sell them.

But in this approach, again, there is nothing new. Although it is surprising that few people are engaged in such a business. The innovation lies in the fact that a special heated room is allocated, in which large aquariums are placed. Air is pumped into them and sand must be poured to the bottom. It is also necessary to equip these aquariums with something so that the crayfish have holes. Suitable, for example, a hollow brick. The presence of plants is also an important detail. The bigger the aquarium, the better.

You can feed crayfish with earthworms or bloodworms. They will, with pleasure, eat porridge. Do not throw anything greasy into the water. For water purification, it is desirable to put a pump along with a compressor. It should be noted that they do not replace each other, but perfectly complement.

What are these perks for? As already mentioned, crayfish, in a natural setting, hibernate. As a result, cancer, starting from the age of two, sheds only once a year. This significantly affects its growth rate. In the aquarium, they molt once every two to three months. Naturally, having placed a medium-sized crayfish in an aquarium, we have a marketable crayfish in a year. In addition, on average, after two molts, the shell of such a crayfish acquires a beautiful blue color. This is the reason for its name. But in northern latitudes, in natural conditions, this does not happen. And in the aquarium we can see it. In this case, I'm just describing my own observations.

In addition to the above, there is another original way to make money on crayfish. If you are a supplier of crayfish, then this method should not be neglected. You can acquire a number of regular customers in this way.

This method is based on the fact that in central Russia there are practically no people who know how to properly cook and eat cancer. This, in particular, is due to the relatively low turnover in the sale of live crayfish in the retail network. And when the crayfish is properly eaten, only one husk remains. But you need to be able to do it.

Therefore, for those who know how to eat cancer correctly, this type of income is offered. (Who wants to learn this art - contact). The essence of the business is as follows. It is necessary to agree with the owner of a cafe that one evening a week will be devoted to the theme of beer - crayfish. It is best to plan for the middle of the week when attendance is lower. And organize exactly the educational process called "How to eat cancer."

Make paid entry and related advertising. No investment required here. Popularity will depend entirely on your artistry. And, as already mentioned, for crayfish suppliers, this is an amazing advertisement, for which you can also get money. There are many options for implementing such a business. For imagination, the scope here is very wide.

So, we have four stages of spilling this type of business. You can stop at any of them.

• Simple trapping and sale of live and boiled crayfish.
• Simple breeding of crayfish in a pond or lake.
• Combined breeding with cultivation in aquariums.
• Sale of crayfish (caught or grown) with the organization of evenings "Beer - crayfish", with thematic training "How to eat crayfish".

It is known that whoever constantly eats crayfish lives a long time. Therefore, this business is useful not only for the wallet, but also for health.

Representative of the class of higher crayfish. Crayfish are quite ancient animals, and appeared in the Jurassic period, approximately 130 million years ago, and settled almost unchanged in almost all fresh water bodies of Europe. The name "crayfish" is not entirely correct, since this group of animals lives not only in rivers, but also in lakes, ponds, so it would be more accurate to say - freshwater crayfish.

Description

Like all higher crustaceans, crayfish has a developed, hard chitinous cover as an external skeleton. The color of the integument of crayfish is variable, and largely depends on the habitat. Most often, crayfish are greenish-brown and brown tones, as well as blue-brown ("cobalt"). The body of cancer consists of a cephalothorax and a strong jointed abdomen. Males are much larger than females, have a wider cephalothorax and larger claws. The breath of crayfish is gill. The circulatory system is of an open type (oxygen dissolved in water enters the blood, and carbon dioxide accumulated in the blood is excreted through the gills into the water). Crayfish live on average for about 8 years, but often live up to 10 years.

The structure of cancer

The body consists of a cephalothorax and a flat jointed abdomen. The cephalothorax consists of two parts: anterior (head) and posterior (thoracic), which are fused together. There is a sharp spike on the front of the head section. In the depressions on the sides of the spike, bulging eyes sit on movable stalks, and two pairs of thin antennae extend in front: one is short, the other is long.

The structure of cancer

Head (front)

The cephalothorax of cancer consists of the head (anterior) and thoracic (rear) parts fused with each other. Under the shell of the cephalothorax are the gills. There is a sharp chitinous spike on the top of the head section, and two stalked, bulging black eyes are located on the sides in the recesses. The eye of a crayfish is of a mosaic type, and it is rather complicated - it consists of a large number of individual "eyes" that perceive light. In the anterior part, near the eyes, there are long chitinous stalked antennae: two pairs of long and two pairs of short ones. The antennae are densely innervated and play an important role in the sense of touch of this animal. In the lower, front part of the cephalothorax is the mouth of the crayfish. The oral apparatus is quite complex and consists of two pairs of “jaws”, which are forelimbs modified in the process of evolution. The limbs of crayfish are single-branched, and are represented by five pairs: the first pair are claws, and the remaining four pairs are walking legs. Crayfish claws are designed to capture and hold prey, protect and attack. In males, pincers play an important role as a means to capture and hold the female during the mating season. The limbs of crayfish are capable of regeneration at the end of the molt.

Abdomen (back)

The segmented abdomen of crayfish consists of seven segments, on which there are five pairs of small biramous limbs (ventral legs) intended for swimming. The sixth pair of abdominal legs together with the seventh abdominal segment (member) forms the caudal fin.

Digestive system

The crayfish stomach is two-chambered, and consists of two specialized sections: in the first section, the food is carefully ground (chopped) with hard chitinous “teeth”, and in the second section, it is finely filtered (filtered). Finely ground food then enters the intestines, and into the digestive gland, in which its final digestion and absorption of all nutrients takes place. All the remnants of undigested food are then sent to the excretory system located at the back of the cancer. Removal of the remains (feces) of crayfish is carried out through the anus located in the central part of the caudal fin.

Nervous system

The nervous system of crayfish is simple, and consists of the peripharyngeal ganglion and the ventral nerve circuit.

Range and habitat

Crayfish habitats

Reservoirs in which these invertebrates can live should have a depth of 3-5 meters and depressions with a greater depth - from 8 to 15 meters. The optimum water temperature in summer is 16-22°C.

Behavioral features

The crayfish actively hunts mainly at night, and during the day it hides in a wide variety of natural shelters (bog, stones, crevices, etc.). Artificial shelter for crayfish are burrows dug or occupied by them, which are usually located along the coastline in soft soil or clay. The length of the crustacean burrows reaches an average of 30-35 cm, and often reaches half a meter. In the summer, crayfish prefer shallow areas of reservoirs, and in winter they prefer solid ground (clay, sand, etc.). Crayfish move in a peculiar way, that is, move backward, but in case of danger they swim due to sharp and strong strokes of the caudal fin, like shrimps and some other crustaceans. Among crayfish, researchers often note cases of cannibalism, and this phenomenon mainly occurs with a sharp increase in population density or starvation. In relations between the sexes, male crayfish dominate, since they are larger than females, and in the event of conflicts between males, as a rule, the larger and stronger cancer wins.

Food

In search of food, crayfish never move far from their holes, and on average, the distance they travel from the hole ranges from 1 to 3 meters. The diet of crayfish is mainly dominated by plant food (~90%) and animal food (~10%) occupies a certain proportion. The plant food of crayfish includes a variety of algae and fresh aquatic or moisture-loving plants - nettle, water lily, horsetail, elodea, and pondweed. The range of animal food consumed by crayfish mainly includes a variety of molluscs, tadpoles, worms, insects and their larvae. The diet of animal food of crayfish as a constant component of food also includes various kinds of carrion - the corpses of animals and birds, which crayfish often eat cleanly. In winter, crayfish also feed on fallen leaves of trees. According to researchers, it was noticed that female crayfish consume more food, but eat less often than males.

Reproduction and development

Male crayfish reach puberty 3 years after birth, and females 4 years later. At the very beginning of autumn, crayfish males become much more active, mobile and even aggressive, and very often attack passing individuals. As soon as the male notices the female, he immediately attacks her and, grabbing her by the claws, turns her on her back. As a rule, the male must be much larger and stronger than the female, otherwise she will simply break out of his "embrace". Having captured and turned over the female, the male transfers his spermatophores to her abdomen, and then leaves her. It is estimated that a male crayfish is able to fertilize about 3-4 females in this way during the breeding season. Fertilized females then carry up to 200-250 eggs on their abdomen for 2 weeks. It has been noted that the incubation period for the development of fertilized eggs into young crustaceans largely depends on the water temperature. The breeding season for crayfish is October.

At the end of the development of eggs, young crustaceans with a size of about 2 mm emerge from them. After the appearance of young crustaceans, they remain on the female's abdomen for about 10-12 more days, and then, after leaving her, they switch to independent feeding, development and resettlement in the reservoir. Two weeks after birth, the size of a young crustacean reaches about 10 mm, and its weight is about 23-25 ​​mg. It is known that in the first summer of their life, young crustaceans go through 5 stages of molting. At the same time, their length increases by 2 times, and their mass by 5.5-6 times. It has been noticed that the growth of the size of young crayfish occurs quite unevenly, and depends on the temperature conditions of the water and the presence of one or another amount of food. During the next year of life and development, the crustaceans go through 6 more stages of molting, and by the end of the year, the length of young crayfish reaches about 35 mm, and the weight often reaches 1.7-2 grams. By the fourth year of their life, crayfish reach a length of 90-95 mm, and from this point in time, the number of molts decreases to two times a year.

Use in the food industry

Since ancient times, crayfish have been widely used as human food. The remains of crayfish shells were found in the so-called "kitchen heaps" of the Neolithic. Basically, crayfish are processed by boiling in salted water, and having acquired a peculiar red hue and appetizing smell, they are served seasoned with herbs (dill, parsley, celery, etc.). When cooking crayfish (and crustaceans in general), they turn red. The change in the color of the integument of crustaceans is explained by the fact that they contain a very large amount of carotenoids. The most common pigment in the integument of crustaceans is astaxanthin, in its pure form having a rich bright red color. Before heat treatment, and in live crayfish, carotenoids are associated with various proteins, and the color of the animal is usually bluish, greenish and brown tones. When heated, the compounds of carotenoids and proteins easily break down and the released astaxanthin gives the body of the animal a rich red color. The bulk of the nutritious meat of crayfish is in the abdomen, and a slightly smaller amount of it is in the claws. The meat of the crayfish is white with rare pink streaks, nutritious and has an excellent taste. In terms of composition, it contains a large amount of protein, and a low fat content. The percentage of the volume of crayfish meat in comparison with other crustaceans eaten by people, it becomes obvious that crayfish is not a champion, although it exceeds a number of food crabs. In other words, there is little meat in adult crayfish. If a kilogram of whole shrimp has a meat content of about 400 grams, then a kilogram of crayfish is barely 100-150 grams (belly and claws), while crayfish are approximately 3-4 times more expensive. Probably the very consumption of crayfish is mainly based on the rather attractive appearance of all kinds of dishes decorated with boiled crayfish, and partly on old traditions.

Variety of crayfish

Lobsters (sea crayfish)

American (Homarus americanus) and European (Homarus gammarus) lobsters are distinguished by their enlarged first pair of legs; those of the Norwegian lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) are longer and thinner. Usually one claw more is a crushing claw; another, smaller one is a cutting claw. On the head are two pairs of antennae and a pair of compound eyes. The tail is fan-shaped. The female lays many thousands of eggs. Lobsters usually live up to 15 years, but one European record holder lived to 50.

Other families of crayfish

Reef crayfish (genus Enoplometopus) live on coral reefs; their claws are only on the first pair of legs (in lobsters and crayfish on the first three pairs). Glypheids are composed of dozens of fossil species and two living ones found in the Pacific Ocean.

catching crayfish

Crayfish fishing at the beginning of the season depends primarily on the temperature of the water. If May and June are warm and the water temperature is high, then the molting of both males and females ends before the onset of the fishing season. In this case, the catches are good from the very beginning. In cold summers, molting may be late, and crayfish begin to move after hardening of the shell only at the end of July.

In connection with the expansion of fishing with netting, other methods of catching crayfish remain in the background or are completely forgotten. There are many methods of catching crayfish that are not so easy, but are excitingly interesting for amateurs.

Catching hands

Catching crayfish with your hands is the most primitive and, apparently, the most ancient way. The catcher moves carefully in the water and looks under the stones, tree trunks, lifts the branches under which the crayfish hide in the daytime. Noticing the cancer, he tries to grab it with a quick movement until he hides in a shelter or runs away. Naturally, this fishing method is not suitable for those who are afraid of claws. The biggest catch happens in the dark, when crayfish that have left their shelters can be caught by illuminating the bottom of the reservoir with a lantern. In the old days, a fire was lit on the shore to lure crayfish. In such a simple way, near the shore on a rocky bottom, where there are many crayfish, you can catch hundreds of them.

You can grab a crayfish with your hands only if the water depth is not more than 1.5 m. For catching crayfish in deeper waters, and in reservoirs with light water, at a depth of even several meters, the so-called crayfish mites were used. These wooden pincers easily catch and lift crayfish out of the water. Ticks can be from one to several meters long. To prevent mites from damaging the cancer, they can be made hollow.

A simpler device is a long stick, at the end of which a split is made, and it is expanded with a small stone or wooden stick. It is impossible to pull the crayfish out of the water with such a stick, it is only pressed to the bottom and then raised by hand. Catching with ticks requires great skill, since crayfish, as soon as they sense danger, run away very quickly.

When catching crayfish with their hands, at one time they used a net, which, especially in the light of a lantern, is much more convenient and efficient. Underwater fishing also belongs to this method of harvesting crayfish. It requires special goggles and a breathing tube. Crayfish can be pulled out of their burrows with gloved hands or collected from the bottom at night. When diving at night, you must have a flashlight, or a partner must illuminate the bottom from the shore or boat. Although the diver catches near the shore; there are always dangers in store for him. Therefore, it is recommended that a partner be on duty on the shore and observe the progress of fishing.

Tackle for catching crayfish

Tackle for catching crayfish

With the considered fishing methods, baits are not used at all. The catch when fishing without baits always depends on chance, and there is no guarantee that you will catch crayfish. With the use of baits, fishing becomes more effective. The bait attaches the crayfish to the gear and keeps it in the places of catching.

Crayfish gathered around the bait can be taken with your hands or with a net. But a more “improved” fishing method is fishing, in which the crayfish clings to a bait tied to the end of a fishing line or the base of a stick, and holds on to the bait until it is picked up by a net and pulled out of the water. Crayfish fishing differs from fish fishing in that they do not use hooks and the crayfish can unhook at any time.

A fishing line is tied to a stick 1-2 m long, and a bait is tied to the fishing line. They fix the end of the stick by sticking it into the bottom of the lake or river near the shore or into the coastal slope. The bait is placed in the right place to graft cancer.

The catcher can simultaneously use several, even dozens, fishing rods. Their number depends primarily on the density of crayfish in the reservoir, the activity of their zhora and the supply of nozzles. The nozzle attracts crayfish in stagnant water from an area of ​​about 13 sq.m. Therefore, it makes no sense to place gear more often than at a distance of 5 m from each other and no closer than 2.5 m from the coastline. Usually, fishing rods are stuck at a distance of 5-10 m from one another, in more catchy places more often, in less catchy places - less often.

During the evening and night, depending on the season, the fishing rods are checked several times, sometimes even 3-4 times per hour. The fishing area should not exceed 100-200 m in length, so that you can check the fishing rods in time, until the crayfish have time to eat the bait. If during the evening the catch decreases, you need to move to a new place. When checking the fishing rods, the stick is carefully pulled out of the bottom and the fishing rod is lifted so slowly and smoothly that the crayfish clinging to the bait does not unhook, but rises with it closer to the surface of the water, where the prey is carefully picked up from below with a net lowered into the water. Fishing can be very productive. Sometimes 10-12 crayfish can be pulled out at a time. The swaying end of the stick, to which the fishing line is tied, shows that the cancer has attacked the bait.

The so-called crayfish stick differs from a fishing rod in that a short piece of fishing line is tied to the stick or the fishing line is not used at all. In this case, the bait is attached directly to the lower end of the stick. The stick is stuck into the bottom at the fishing area in such a way that the bait is lying freely on the bottom.

The technique of catching with a hook, zherlitse and a crayfish stick is the same as catching with a fishing rod. They fish crayfish with all these gear in the same way as fish. The angler keeps the rod in his hands all the time and, feeling that the crayfish has grabbed the bait, carefully pulls it along with the bait to the surface of the water, closer to the shore, and with his other hand puts the net under the crayfish.

In the old days, bonfires were burned on the shore to attach crayfish to gear. Fishing crayfish was widespread. This is a really diverse and exciting way available to every fan.

Nets for catching crayfish (Rachevni)

Rachevni are now widely used. Rachevnya is a cylindrical mesh stretched over a metal round hoop. Hoops are currently made from galvanized wire. Previously, they were made from willow or bird cherry twigs, and a stone, piece of iron or a bag of sand was tied in the center of the grid for pulling. The diameter of the hoop is usually 50 cm. Three or four thin cords of the same length are tied to the hoop at an equal distance in order to avoid warping the crust, and connect them with a common knot, into the loop of which a stronger cord is threaded for lowering and raising the gear. If caught from the shore, the cord is attached to the pole. The bait is tied to a net, to a cord stretched along the diameter of the hoop or a thin stick, also attached to the hoop, and the trap is lowered to the bottom. The cord for pulling out the crustacean is tied to a buoy or a pole stuck into the slope of the shore.

Fishing for crabs is based on the fact that a crayfish, clinging to the bait, cannot get out of the trap when it is lifted out of the water. Rachevny should not hesitate to raise. At the same time, it is possible to fish with several cradles, set apart from each other at distances of 5-10 m.

Rachevni began to be used at the end of the 19th century. The type of rachev that was discussed is the most common. A more effective version of this trap is a crab with two hoops located one above the other at a distance of 5-10 cm. The crab, lowered to the bottom, folds, and when pulled out of the water, the mesh stretched between the hoops prevents the crayfish from crawling out of the trap. In one of the traps of such structures, a pole with a pointed end is passed through the middle of the grid through and attached to it. The end of the pole extends beyond the net so that it can be stuck into the bottom from the shore or boat, and at the same time put the crust on the bottom.

In addition to such rachev, large nets are used. The lower edge of such a net is a wooden stick or a metal rod. to the middle of which is attached a handle. A mesh bag is attached to the bottom edge and handle. For the grid, you can make a metal triangular frame. At dusk, such a net is dragged along the bottom from the shore or boat. The bottom should be flat, without stones and branches, otherwise it is easy to tear the mesh.

Such an original occupation as breeding crayfish at home, with the right approach, may well become a very profitable business. There are two options for breeding crayfish: the first is a pond or lake (when crayfish are grown in your own or rented ponds or lakes) and the second is a home farm. We will talk about the features of the second option.

Room selection

If you are going to grow crayfish on a home farm, then first of all you need to find a warm, heated room. Its size will directly depend on the scale of the planned business and financial capabilities. When deciding on the size of the room, keep in mind that it will be necessary to install several baths in it, in which the crayfish will actually grow. Also, if in winter it will be possible to maintain the air temperature at around 15 C, then your efforts will pay off much faster, since the cancer will not hibernate, but will continue to grow. In warm rooms, cancer changes its shell up to twice a quarter, as a result, in a year it grows to a marketable appearance.

Renting a room for breeding crayfish will cost about $5-10 per sq. meter, depending on the equipment and location, however, most often, businessmen at the initial stage try to use their own capabilities and locate a room for crayfish in the courtyard of their house or cottage.

Baths for breeding crayfish

For breeding crayfish, it is necessary to acquire bathtubs of various sizes, made of plastic or plexiglass. You can either buy them ready-made or make your own. For the first time, 3-4 baths will be enough. In the future, with an increase in the demand for goods, their number can be increased. Why do you need multiple baths? Everything is quite simple: if you put all the crayfish in one bath, they will quickly acquire offspring. And since these animals are prone to cannibalism, adults can simply eat all the juveniles. Therefore, newborn crustaceans must be separated from their parents in order to save them. However, keep in mind that it is not necessary to transplant small crustaceans, but adult crayfish, since newborn individuals are very sensitive to the environment and may die in new habitat conditions.

In the bath where the crayfish will live, it is necessary to put river sand and some stones on the bottom so that the crayfish can make holes. Also, the bath must be equipped with a cleaning filter, since crayfish live only in clean water. If the water is dirty, then the crayfish will most likely die.

As for the cost, a large bath can be purchased for $20-30, and a water filter for $15-20.

Purchase of crayfish

Of course, in order to start breeding crayfish, you first need to purchase them. You need to buy lake crayfish, which are also called "blue" for the corresponding color of the shell. Lake crayfish at home grow much faster than river crayfish, so it is advisable to stop your choice on them. As for gender, there should be two females per male. You can also buy females with caviar, which will significantly reduce the time for growing crayfish, but transporting such individuals is quite difficult. Therefore, it is best to purchase adults of both sexes and let them mate on your farm. Newborn crustaceans hatch from eggs after 5 weeks, but this period directly depends on the water temperature. One female is capable of laying up to 200 eggs. After the crustaceans have hatched, they must be separated from adults no earlier than 10 days later, since until this time the newborns are attached to their mother.

As for the cost, 10 crayfish can be purchased for an average of $10-15, depending on their size and age.

What to feed crayfish?

In its natural habitat, cancer feeds on everything that it finds at the bottom of the reservoir. For feeding cancer at home, earthworms, any meat, fish, bloodworms, fish food, vegetables and algae are suitable. There is also a special food for crayfish, designed specifically for growing and feeding crayfish at home.

Crayfish breeding business at home: the financial side of the issue

The crayfish breeding business at home is quite profitable, and the financial investment will pay off within the first year of operation.

So, the initial cost of a small cancer farm will be about $500:

• 4 crayfish baths - $120;
• 4 filters for water purification - $60;
• 10 adult crayfish - $15;
• food - $100;
• utilities - $200.

So, if out of 10 crayfish, the number of females is 7 pieces, each of which can lay 200 eggs, then you can get about 900 young crustaceans (taking into account the fact that some of the offspring will die one way or another). Upon reaching the presentation of crayfish, you can sell at a cost of $ 10 per dozen. Thus, your income will be about $900. Accordingly, the more crayfish you get for breeding, the more profit you can get.

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