There’s Enough Crawfish Around to Satisfy Your Crustacean Cravings

1. August 18, 2017 As more and more people in Kemah and elsewhere are drawn to the amazing taste of crawfish, you have to ask yourself if they will one day become extinct. After all, once you’ve got a taste for these bad boys, you’d want to eat them daily. Fortunately, you won’t have to worry about any shortage any time soon, and here are the reasons why. Crawfish Mature and Reproduce Quickly The average age for a crawfish to reach sexually maturity is 3 months. Red Swamp Crayfish, are common in the Southeastern United States. A healthy female can produce as many as 600 eggs in a season and reproduce twice a year. That's a lot of baby crawfish! Texas holds great waters Page 1 of 3

2. for the reproduction of crawfish, making it a prime spot to find restaurants that serve up these tasty crustaceans by the bucket load. Ecologically Advanced The red swamp crayfish (common to Texas) has learned the art of survival. They thrive in a variety of freshwater habitats, including rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, canals, seasonally flooded swamps and marshes, and ditches with mud or sand bottoms and plenty of organic debris. There are also farms for raising crawfish. Once thought to have diets of plant matter, a crawfish also eats protein-based insects, fish and snails. They also use the sandy bottom of their chosen water to bury themselves and stay safe from predators. Unusual Physical Survival Characteristics The crawfish has the unique ability to regrow lost limbs. This is a fine achievement since limbs can easily be lost during fights of the mating season. They also have eyes that are very keen for looking out for their own safety. While humans have eyes that move together, the crawfish has eyes that move independently. They can see an enemy coming from the right and from the left, all at the same time. Besides having the ability to burrow in the sandy bottom of streams and rivers, crawfish can walk quickly or swim backwards. They can actually move faster when moving backwards while their eyes keep a 360-degree lookout. Crawfish Production Since there are over 300 species of crawfish in the United States, it can be difficult to keep a native family in one area. Only 2 species are harvested and used for production in the states. By creating crawfish farms, the best native species are controlled. Aquaculture and wild capture fisheries can be found throughout Texas and Louisiana where healthy crawfish are grown and shipped around the country for everyone to enjoy. With all of these interesting facts, it is easy to see why the crawfish of Texas are here to stay. A lot of safety measures are put into place to guarantee that native crawfish are abundant and not penetrated by invading species. Rest assured that responsible restaurants like Crazy Alan's Swamp Shack will only serve quality native Kemah crawfish. Page 2 of 3

3. About Crazy Alan’s Swamp Shack: Crazy Alan’s Swamp Shack is one of the most well-known restaurants in the area. Here, you can get the full, rich seafood and Cajun cuisine experience of a lifetime. We offer plenty of flavor- rich dishes that make use of the tasty crawfish and other equally delicious varieties of seafood. Sources: Procambarus Clarkii, AnimalDiversity.org Crawfish Production, Fisheries.TAMU.edu Page 3 of 3