Abstract

At our last meeting in Davis, California, it was noted that the increase of the population and the production of P. clarkii in the rice growing area in the south of Spain has been spectacular. But due to the protracted drought of 1984, the fifth consecutive year of drought, only 4,000 hectares of the existing 30,000 hectares of paddyfields were flooded which was devastating on the crayfish population. This reduced the production of crayfish to only 700,000 kilograms. As a result of the climatic conditions in 1984, a year of 'no water', there are interesting social and economic situations worthy of comment. In its social aspect, there are no longer complaints about the presence of the crayfish. Thus, the ricefield owners are now more concerned with unemployment among workers than with the rice crop and the crayfish captured by the fishermen. As regards the economic aspect, the price per kilogram of live crayfish is now very attractive to the fishermen. The low survival of mature crayfish limits the numbers of young which are normally the largest percentage of the spring crop. The quantities captured until now did not permit. prices to go down. Legalising the controlled production of crayfish faces serious problems due to the particular geography of the flat area of the Guadalquivir Valley. The newly established local government sees in the increased productivity of the paddyfields an example of its so called 'reforma agricola'. It means that with more diversified and attractive crops the agriculture of Andalucia could be more profitable.

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