A BRIEF HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE'S CRAWFISH RESEARCH CENTER

The Crawfish Research Center was established in the early 1970's at the then University of Southwestern Louisiana. Past Directors have included Davey Bernard, Donald Gooch, Harold Loyacano, and Albert P. Gaude', III. The present director is Jay V. Huner. The UL at Lafayette - CRC serves the regional aquaculture community through research, demonstration, outreach, and training. Activities center around the crawfish industry with ancillary work with finfish aquaculture which is assuming greater significance in the area.

FACILITIES:

A. The Crawfish Research Center's field facilities were originally situated on the Congress Street Farm in Lafayette. These were relocated in the mid-1980's to the new UL Lafayette Experimental Farm located about 20 miles southeast of Lafayette between the town of Cade and city of St. Martinville. There are more than 60 acres of research ponds and 40 acres of wooded wetlands on the 600 acre property.

B. A state-of-the-art 250+ pound capacity Closed Recirculating Soft-Shell Crawfish System has been located in the Old Creamery Building on the main campus in Lafayette. This unit provided opportunities for improving production methods for soft-shell crawfish and various finfishes, especially ornamentals. [Note: The unit is being relocated to the USL Experimental Farm during 1999.]

ACTIVITIES:

Research and outreach activities involve other state units, including the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (research and extension) and the Louisiana Sea Grant Program as well as private cooperators, both individuals and businesses. The Center collaborates with professional agricultural and fisheries scientists in Louisiana - other University of Louisiana at Lafayette departments, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Louisiana State University, and Tulane University - and Europe - The Institute for Freshwater Research, Drottningholm, Sweden, The University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden, and the University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland. It has established a formal cooperative agreement with the University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland.

The Cade and Lafayette facilities are used by the aquaculture industry for demonstration of new equipment and methods. Research is also conducted at sites remote to these UL Lafayette units. Since its founding, Crawfish Research Center scientists have generated over $1 million dollars in grant moneys, donations, and in-kind services in support of its mission. Over 300 articles, reports, and books have been published by Center scientists. Both general interest and technical articles on aquaculture subjects are available for both the general public and the scientific community. Facilities are available, on a limited basis, to visiting scientists from around the world.

The Center is the permanent home office (Secretariat) for the International Association of Astacology. The IAA is the one international association devoted to the study of crawfish biology.

Some past and current research activities include:

- Crawfish: Harvesting; Feeding; Management; Genetics; and Reproductive Physiology;

- Soft-Shell Crawfish Production;

- Integration of Fish and Crawfish Production;

- Vertebrate Biodiversity in Agricultural Systems;

- Fish and Crawfish Eating Bird Problems in Aquaculture;

- Tertiary Treatment of Dairy Lagoon Wastes;

- Recirculation/Biofiltration in Crustacean Intensive Culture systems Purging, Molting and Holding and Alligator Culture; and

- Shrimp Trawl Development - Energy Efficiency, Fish By-Catch Reduction, and Turtle Exclusion Devices.

- Characterization and management of Crawfish Pond Effluents.

SPECIES STUDIED: Red Swamp Crawfish, White River Crawfish, Dwarf Crawfishes, Noble Crawfish, Mosquitofish, Green Molly, Channel Catfish, Bullheads, Bowfin (Choupique/Grindle), Largemouth Bass, Sunfishes, Crappie (Sacalait), Common Carp, Koi Carp, Goldfish, and American Alligators.

Biological Diversity: More than 185 birds, 25 mammals, 25 reptiles and amphibians, and 30 fishes have been documented on the UL Lafayette Experimental Farm with most closely associated with the aquaculture and wetland areas on the farm.

P.O. Box 44650 - University of Louisiana at Lafayette - Lafayette, Louisiana 70504,USA.

tel. 337 394-7508; e-mail: jhuner@usl.edu.

Physical Address: 1031 W. J. Bernard Road, St. Martinville, Louisiana 70582, USA.