Link to red claw info

[davidstcldfl]

MMMmmmmmm.....baby lobsters.......

They sound interesting. Too cold to go outside today .... found this while 'exploring'.

http://aquanic.org/publicat/usda_rac/efs/srac/244fs.pdf

http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Content/File/p/Fishnote/FN32.pdf

Some day....my set up will look like this....

http://www.alcareertech.org/acta/aquacu ... tewart.ppt

Hope you find it interesting too.

[badflash]

Great PDF! For some reason I never looked closely at Red Claws. Seems like the perfect cray to co-crop with tilapia.

[davidstcldfl]

Glad you liked the files Badflash.

I'd really like to give them a try. There are 2 commercial growers, one North and one South , about an hour or so drive from me.
One guy is using 8' X18" deep kiddie pools to grow them in. I think he can have up to 500 adults per tank/pool.

They say 4 to 6 adults make a pound...wow!

[stucco]

We spoke to the red claw folks today. They told us that all sales in Florida or to Florida residents requires an aquaculture permit, which may count us out as our site is 50 feet over the line of the flood zone . The boss is going to call tomorrow to see if it is any different than the last time we spoke to the aquaculture permit people….. Who told us “we had to build a 6 foot berm around our entire yard” “or just grow catfish”.

[jackalope]

We spoke to the red claw folks today. They told us that all sales in Florida or to Florida residents requires an aquaculture permit, which may count us out as our site is 50 feet over the line of the flood zone . The boss is going to call tomorrow to see if it is any different than the last time we spoke to the aquaculture permit people….. Who told us “we had to build a 6 foot berm around our entire yard” “or just grow catfish”.

Don't you just love the socialist interference in our "governments." When we got destroyed in a flood in WA state, we lived in a so-called 500 year flood plain (it floods every 500 years) we checked back and found out that it flooded every 10 to 15 years for the last 40 years or so ..... but since it was in a 500 year flood plain, the sellers didn't have to tell us about the 3 floods in the past 40 years ...... life is wunnaful!!

[davidstcldfl]

We spoke to the red claw folks today. They told us that all sales in Florida or to Florida residents requires an aquaculture permit, which may count us out as our site is 50 feet over the line of the flood zone .

Sorry to hear that Stucco.
The city I live in sits besides a large lake. I'm about 7 streets away, but I wasn't required to buy 'flood' insurance. (by my mortgage lender)
Before all the flood control canals were put in...I understand the lake front was like 2 streets away..

When we got destroyed in a flood in WA state, we lived in a so-called 500 year flood plain (it floods every 500 years) we checked back and found out that it flooded every 10 to 15 years for the last 40 years or so ..... but since it was in a 500 year flood plain, the sellers didn't have to tell us about the 3 floods in the past 40 years ...... life is wunnaful!!

Jackalope....After reading about your 500 year flood plane....it makes me wonder how 'close' I am to the flood zone ?

I was considering getting a permit also.......Hmmmmm...

I went on line and found a way to check on flood areas ......(hope the link works)
http://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/s ... rs/Renters

Looks like the 'flood zone' is one street away for me.....

[JCO]

There are 2 commercial growers, one North and one South , about an hour or so drive from me.
One guy is using 8' X18" deep kiddie pools to grow them in.

David, you mentioned 2 commercial growers. I know about the one just South of Green Cove Springs....where is the other one? By the way, I don't know if you saw him on the TV News there or not, but the one just South of GCP made the news in Jacksonville. His entire crop of Tilapia was wiped out (he had the outside in ponds) and he was coming close to loosing the Red Claw because of low temperatures. It showed the inside of his operation on TV where he keeps the Red Claw and as best as I could tell, he had shade cloth on the sides of the Greenhouse, not much for keeping out the cold

[davidstcldfl]

David, you mentioned 2 commercial growers. I know about the one just South of Green Cove Springs....where is the other one? By the way, I don't know if you saw him on the TV News there or not, but the one just South of GCP made the news in Jacksonville.

The other link I saved is showing Miami aquaculture... Boynton Beach, FL
I must of not saved the link( or saved it to the wrong place) .....I thought there was one near Okeechobee / Indiantown area of FL...

No, I didn't get to see the news with his farm. Thats a real shame about his loss. I saw some pictures of his set up, about 2 weeks ago. I was wondering what he was going to do about keeping everything warm (?)....

[davidstcldfl]

David, you mentioned 2 commercial growers. I know about the one just South of Green Cove Springs....where is the other one?

Patterson Farm........ Indiantown,FL

I also found this grower....
Smallbatch Aquaculture.... Homestead,FL

A friend of mine. said he remebered there was someone in Geneva, FL raising them too.

[stucco]

The Florida Division of Aquaculture has been designated by Florida Fish and Wildlife to determine who can be permitted to own and operate any culture system with redclaw. Evidently, the FF&W did not want redclaw to be permitted in the state at all, but was swayed to allow it under certain conditions (including tank heights being 1 ft above the flood plane) thru the Division of Aquaculture. The gentleman I spoke with stated that many of the original permit owners had trouble with the profitability of the redclaw since they are foragers and do not necessarily eat when fed. They also like to be in an enclosed environment similar to their natural home. Singular layer culture tanks deter them from mating and the water quality suffers from the deteriorating food. Although less likely to fight than prawn, many of the same elements of culture situations apply. The fresh water prawn, however, is not a prohibited animal.
I suggested to the Aquaculture Representative that culture in an Aquaponics situation would relieve at least some of these issues, to which he agreed, but it did not matter since the regulations require anyone who is to possess a certificate for the redclaw to operate a rather large commercial business, no personal or small operations of redclaw are allowed any longer due to the pervious inexperience operators who could not supply the redclaw with their needs in order to become profitable.
As for the Department of Aquaculture, I found the rep to be not only informative (as we conversed for about an hour regarding all things relative) but also helpful in trying to nail down some other possibilities for types of allowable fish, based on their environmental needs, which could possibly be cultured and profitable for foodstock .
So, in conclusion- sorry redclaw fans, but no dice to you guys here in Florida. Freshwater prawns are the ticket for you instead. Possibilities for future aquaculture fish- the hytec spec is acceptable for sure and has anyone ever thought about the peacock bass? I had often wondered if these were allowed, but they are not native either. Brought in for the bug population and sport fishing, they require live feed- minnows, but could they be brought to feed on SFL or even a SFL mix meal pellet?? They are legal and are prized for their flavor. More research is needed…my next mission?