Abstract

In Louisiana, crayfish ponds are dry from late spring or early summer until late summer or early autumn. Crayfish spend the dry period in burrows. The recommended flooding date is mid-October. The effect of flooding dates - early September, mid October, and mid November - was studied in experimental ponds (0.12 ha) for six consecutive crayfish seasons. The dominant forage vegetation was unharvested rice. No effort was made to aerate the water through recirculation or pond flushing. Water was added gradually to the September treatment so that ponds were full by the end of October. Water was added rapidly in mid-month for the October and November treatments. The highest, most consistent crayfish production, about 1,500 kg/ha, was achieved in the September treatment with commercial quantities present by late November. In the other treatments, although crayfish production approached or exceeded 1,000 kg/ha, commercial quantities were normally not available prior to the March-April period. Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) was dominant over Procambarus zonangulus Hobbs & Hobbs 1990 in the September treatment.

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