Abstract:

Crayfish is a popular in many countries of the world and commercial value is also quite high. Freshwater crayfish are sold after harvested from natural waters or growing in culture conditions in the world. In Turkey, there is no culture of freshwater crayfish, all of the crayfish harvested from natural resources and most of them are sold to the abroad countries as fresh, frozen or canned. There are two crayfish species present in Turkey; the narrow-clawed crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) and stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) species. Astacus leptodactylus is naturally and widely distributed in lakes, ponds and rivers throughout of Turkey. Austropotamobius torrentium was observed only in the Velika River and Madara River in the European part of Turkey. Crayfish harvest first started 1961 and all harvested crayfish were exported as a live until 1968 in Turkey. The peak production of the country was attained in the early 1980s, with over 5.000 tons being exported in 1984. When it was crayfish production 7.936 tons in 1984, it dropped to 1.585 tons in 1986 and 320 tons in 1991 in Turkey. The harvest of crayfish, which was 324 tons in 1992, rose to 2317 tons in 2004 and decreased again to 809 tons in 2005. In later years (2006-2015) the amount of harvested crayfish ranged from 500 to 800 tons per year. The consumption of crayfish as a food is quite low and most of the harvested crayfish are exported in Turkey. This study was carried out of the harvest, export, market situation, problems and solution suggestions of crayfish in Turkey.

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