Should I plan to get stock from a neighboring field to increase size or yield?

The above question has been asked many times. The idea behind this is that sometimes a neighboring field may be producing larger crawfish than a current one. Therefore, we want to add large crawfish from the neighboring field to increase genetic diversity. However, this is not necessarily going to change the productivity of the pond in terms of yield and size. As stated in many blogs, the size is mainly a factor related to how many crawfish are in the pond. The more that are in the pond, the smaller they could be if overcrowding is a problem. Reworking levees may be an option to reduce populations in that pond. However, if you are considering doing levee work, many of the crawfish are burrowed in those levees with their offspring. So, if all of the levees are worked, the population can be severly impacted. A better approach would be to work a few levees at a time; or to work all levees and restock afterword, but this would mean also putting a shallow flood on to give them a chance.

When getting stock, the location will not make a difference in terms of productivity as much as monitoring the density in the ponds. If you have overcrowding, the crawfish crop will unfortunately tend to be stunted. Also, it is better to sell everything you catch instead of throwing the females back in the pond. This has not proven to help with production much and can actually contribute to future overcrowding.

Have a great week everyone

Richard

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