Population control and invasion prevention of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard) in an irrigation pond

Abstract

Population control of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkia (Girard) was conducted in a small irrigation pond (670 m²) using bait traps, hand nets and artificial burrows from May to September, 2010. The initial population size of the crayfish recruited before 2010 (large crayfish) and recruited in 2010 (small crayfish) were estimated to be 1,886 and 3,192 individuals respectively. The control project was conducted biweekly (36 times in total) during which 1,885 large and 3,176 small crayfish were captured in the pond. At the end of the project, the estimated numbers of the large and small crayfish in the pond decreased to 1 large and 16 small individuals. During this project, invading crayfish from adjacent areas were captured by using a surrounding barrier with traps. The total number of crayfish captured by these traps was 1,050 individuals. These results indicate that bait traps, hand nets and artificial burrows are effective to control or eradicate red swamp crayfish in a small pond if methods to prevent re-invasion are used.