Arkansas craw study

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(17) 🦞This spring, AGFC personnel have been... - AGFC Fisheries Division | Facebook

 

This spring, AGFC personnel have been in the field surveying the Arkansas Delta and Arkansas River Valley for crayfish. Whether you call them crawfish, crawdads, or crayfish, these freshwater crustaceans are vital to our local ecosystems, inhabiting everything from streams, bayous, swamps, and ditches to underground burrows.

There hasn’t been a comprehensive survey of Delta crayfish since the 1960s, leaving a significant gap in what we know about their current abundance and distribution. This year’s efforts focused specifically on public lands—including National Wildlife Refuges, State Parks, and City Parks—with a particular emphasis on our Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), which have never been sampled for crayfish until now.

Project Milestones:

42 public areas within the Delta and River Valley have already been sampled this year.

Additional sampling is scheduled to continue through next year.

The data collected from these surveys will serve as the foundation for a new book on the crayfishes of Arkansas.

Crayfish are often called "ecosystem engineers." They help maintain healthy wetlands by aerating soil and providing a critical food source for fish, mammals, and waterfowl. By understanding the "little guys," we can better manage the larger wildlife and habitats that Arkansans enjoy.

Our goal is to make the study of these fascinating creatures more accessible to professional biologists and to provide the public with information on these fascinating creatures.