catching and selling crayfish

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RobertThoreson

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Next spring I want to make a go at trapping and selling crayfish to local restaurants and bait shops. I was on the phone with the local authorities alot today figuing out the legal side of things. Iv been intouch with a leader in the trap building business so now it's no down to the boat. I plan on starting with my crestliner commodore. Anyone here have any experience in this business?
 

RobertThoreson

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Now I have myself thinking, I was going to build a little cabin on the boat and add a small winch but then I was looking on Google at finished boats like mine and thought, what if I make this one as pretty, and sell it for a bigger boat? That's alot of work though and I love this boat
 

Bayou Dave

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I have no clue how to catch crayfish. Down here in Louisiana they have farms to raise them. I do think it will take a lot of your time to catch enough of them to make enough $ to make it worth while. Have you spoken with others that catch and sell them? They could give you insights on what type boat and equipment you need.
 

gm280

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I have no idea what it takes to "catch" crayfish as well. Seems farm raised would be the route to go in mp uneducated opinion. But what do I know.... Don't answer that. :facepalm:
 

Bayou Dave

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I have no idea what it takes to "catch" crayfish as well. Seems farm raised would be the route to go in mp uneducated opinion. But what do I know.... Don't answer that. :facepalm:

I have 3 minutes.. tell me all you know... lol
 

Sprig

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Whoa slow down. I wouldn't spend a bunch of $$$, modify or replace your boat until you get a little experience in your new endeavor. Start with a few traps and see how it goes. You may find that you are catching few crayfish or that it is more work, hassle and time than it's worth. You will be competing with the commercial outfits and you may not make enough money to cover the fuel you use. Start small as a hobby and see what it's all about. I trap crawdads for personal consumption (love eating them) but I would never consider trapping them to earn money, way too much time and work.
 

RobertThoreson

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Well as far as I have found, there are zero bait shops around that se) them. And the few I have spoken to, say it's bc they can't find a supplier. I am starting small, I Caan build the traps for around $5 each. There are no "farms" anywhere around here. Iv figured it's going to be hard work but iv done labor jobs my whole life.
 

Old Ironmaker

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All I know is that up here in Ontario you need licences up the wazoo to trap and sell bait, let alone commercial fish to be consumed by the public then you are talking huge regulations, license fees, quotas and insurance no matter how small a business. That's Canada for you though. As far as the business side I can help. Make it a hobby and see how you do before you start revamping your boat or buying one all set up. I shrimped in Georgia with my cousin that lives there, tastes great but not as easy as it sounds tossing nets all day. A job without a plan is a plan for disaster. Do a profit loss calculation after you know how much you can catch on average. Good luck.
 

KJM

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What are crayfish like to eat. I've never seen one as they aren't found here. Do they taste like shrimp?
 

gm280

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What are crayfish like to eat. I've never seen one as they aren't found here. Do they taste like shrimp?

I haven't tasted one either. But I hear they do kinda taste like shrimp. They even look kinda like shrimp, but fresh water type. :noidea:
 

Jkcckc2002

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Down here in south louisiana there are many crawfishermen. I never have seen any do it from a fishing style boat. my family used to have a crawfish pond( think small farm) about 60 acres. We ran 400 traps a day from a special paddle wheel crawfish boat. At times in the year the money was good and at times the money was bad. Currently my dad runs crawfish traps in the spillway for personel consumption. We debate if it is worth the money for that or not. If it is a good year, it is worth the time and effort, but this year it is not.

Look up crawfish species, if i remember right there are over 12 in the US. I believe alot are in south La. And we only eat 3 main types that i know of. Dont know what is up your way. There is some info on the La wildlife and fisheries website about crawfish,check that out if you get a chance.
 

Bayou Dave

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Down here in south louisiana there are many crawfishermen. I never have seen any do it from a fishing style boat. my family used to have a crawfish pond( think small farm) about 60 acres. We ran 400 traps a day from a special paddle wheel crawfish boat. At times in the year the money was good and at times the money was bad. Currently my dad runs crawfish traps in the spillway for personel consumption. We debate if it is worth the money for that or not. If it is a good year, it is worth the time and effort, but this year it is not.

Look up crawfish species, if i remember right there are over 12 in the US. I believe alot are in south La. And we only eat 3 main types that i know of. Dont know what is up your way. There is some info on the La wildlife and fisheries website about crawfish,check that out if you get a chance.

This thread is a little old for more replies. But, I'll just mention that there are a lot of crawfish farms in Abbeville, just south of you JKcckc2002.
 

GA_Boater

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Robert - If you want to update the thread, let any Mod know. For now - Closed.
 
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