Freswater crayfish research at the University of León, Spain

Abstract

After the last great outbreaks of aphanomycosis in Europe, the need to produce astacids under controlled conditions has become obvious, in order to make the availability of animals for both restocking in natural habitats and for human consumption possible. Taking this situation into account, the aquaculture research team, at present located in the Department of Animal Production II in the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences in León, has been developing an overall research program including the study of astacids in natural habitats and restocking practices as well as the performance and improvement of techniques of controlled production, mainly focused on Pacifastacus leniusculus and Austropotamobius pallipes. Within this context, surviving populations from the aphanomycosis epizooty have been studied and restocking possibilities have been evaluated. With regard to culture techniques, the efforts point to the knowledge of the reproductive processes (mating, spawning, egg development), the improvement of the reproductive efficiency on maternal incubation, the performance of suitable techniques of artificial incubation, the design of systems for the storage and transport of eggs and the increase of juvenile survival and growth rates.