Crayfish Cultivation in Turkey: Past, Present and Future

As one of the members of the economic crustaceans; the freshwater lobsters or as they are commonly known as crayfish in Turkey, belong to the Decapoda order of Crustacea class from the phylum of Arthropoda. The freshwater lobsters, which have over 640 species in the world, are generally distributed to the continents of America and Australia. Although the freshwater lobsters have an abundant number of species, the economic importance lies with 3 family (Astacidae, Cambaridae, Parastacidae) and around 10 species from those indicated families. The freshwater lobsters in Turkey are represented by two species. Astacus leptodactylus, one of the species is a local one that is abundant around inland water localities while the other species is Austropotamobius torrentium whose existence was determined especially in Thrace area within Marmara Region. However, the production of crayfish in our country is practiced only by the means of fishing and the hunted crayfish are imported to various European countries. However, the crayfish cultivation has a great potential in Turkey due to the facts that Turkey is rich in terms of inland waters and the crayfish may be found in various localities.