How Much Does It Roughly Cost to Raise Crabs? An Analysis of Crab Farming Prospects

As everyone's standard of living improves, people's demand for delicious and nutritious food keeps growing. Among these, crabs are a food that everyone very much enjoys; they are not only delicious but also rich in nutrients, which is why crabs began to be farmed on a large scale. So do you know how much it costs to raise crabs? Is raising crabs profitable?

Roughly How Much to Invest in Raising Crabs

1. Stocking size: release river crab fry of 3-4 grams each;

2. Stocking quantity: 600 per mu;

3. Farming area: 20 mu;

4. Feed cost: a total of 3.2 tons of feed is fed during the farming process, totaling 20,000;

5. Fry cost: 9,600;

6. Crab medicine and electricity: 3,000;

7. Aquatic plants and snails: 14,000;

8. Pond rent: 24,000;

9. Total cost: 74,180.

Crab Farming Prospects

Raising crabs is still profitable; the key is having the technology, having professional guidance on raising crabs, choosing high-quality crab fry, and also needing to choose good water resources, geography and climate conditions, then bringing high-priced quality crabs to market in high-price areas. China's crab industry took shape on an industrial scale in the early 1990s, and afterward developed rapidly with an average annual increase of about 30,000 tons, reaching 45,000 tons in 2006, and has already become a distinctive emerging aquatic industry in China that is renowned worldwide. It has gone through three highly landmark stages of development: from the coast to the inland, from natural fry harvesting to artificial ecological seedling breeding, and from extensive farming to precision farming in net enclosures. We can say with complete pride that China's river crab industry, whether in terms of industrial scale, basic theoretical research, or the promotion of practical farming technology, ranks among the very best in the world.

With the improvement of the economic level of Chinese residents, the dietary consumption structure of ordinary people has also undergone great changes. Hairy crabs have already entered the dining tables of ordinary households, and consumers have increasingly high requirements for the appearance and taste of hairy crabs, so the selection of river crabs has also become increasingly strict; they must not only be large in size but also have "full roe and plump yellow," so high-quality crabs such as red roe crabs, selenium-enriched crabs, and clear-water crabs are favored by consumers. Therefore, the first direction for crab farming in the future is quality.

Techniques for Raising Crabs in Lakes and River Ditches

When crab seed is raised into adult crabs in natural water bodies, the environmental conditions are relatively good, natural bait is abundant, costs are low, and the adult crabs brought to market are large in size and good in quality. However, the recapture rate is relatively low. Based on current farming methods, they can be divided into:

1. Release of crab seed in lakes and river ditches: this farming method has a history of several decades. In the 1960s-1970s, crab fry were released in lakes and river ditches; in the 1980s, it was changed to releasing juvenile crabs; in recent years, in addition to releasing juvenile crabs, one-year-old crab seed is also released, all with obvious results. However, this farming method usually does not feed bait, and its production results are greatly affected by natural factors, so it still belongs to extensive farming. The water body used for release requires good water quality, lush aquatic plants, gentle flow speed, and few openings connecting to the outside for better benefits. Generally, the recapture rate of adult crabs is only 0.5%-5%.

2. Crab farming in lake net enclosures: in a lake, select a water area with lush aquatic plants, good water quality, gentle water flow, and moderate water depth, use netting to enclose a certain area (ranging from dozens of mu to hundreds of mu), and according to the growth requirements of river crabs, feed bait for precision farming. This farming method draws on the advantages of pond and lake crab farming; its water quality is good, the activity space is large, bait is abundant, and the density is relatively low. The river crabs brought to market are large in size and good in quality, the recapture rate can reach 40%-60%, costs are low, and benefits are high. Usually, each mu can produce 15 kg-30 kg of adult crabs, and high-yield net enclosure crab farming can reach 65 kg per mu.

Daily Management and Disease Prevention

1. Persist in patrolling the pond every morning and evening, observe the feeding and growth of river crabs, check whether there are holes in the pond embankment or blocking nets, and whether the escape prevention facilities and the net covers at the water inlet and outlet are damaged, to prevent crab escape and invasion by enemies.

2. River crabs have relatively high requirements for water quality: dissolved oxygen must be above 4 milligrams per liter, pH 6.8-8.7, and transparency around 40 cm. If it is found that most river crabs come ashore, spit out foam, and breathe oxygen from the air, especially if large numbers of river crabs climb out of the water during the day, do not go back into the water even when startled, or immediately come ashore again after entering the water, it indicates that the water quality has deteriorated or there is serious oxygen deficiency. At this time, the old water should be quickly replaced. In addition, quicklime should be regularly slaked in water and splashed over the whole pond to improve water quality, increase calcium, and promote the growth of river crabs and smooth molting.

3. The high-temperature season easily causes various diseases in river crabs. Persist in prevention being more important than treatment, supplemented by drug prevention and control. For parasites, 0.005‰-0.01‰ formalin or other appropriate amount of insecticide can be splashed over the whole pond; for bacterial diseases, use bactericidal drugs to disinfect and sterilize the water body two or three times. Combining splashing drugs over the whole pond with feeding medicated bait gives better results.

The above is the editor's analysis of the prospects for crab farming, and I hope it can be helpful to everyone. In fact, people's demand for crabs is gradually increasing, and at one point supply even fell short of demand, and crab farming has also brought benefits to many farmers, so crab farming still has certain prospects.