China produced an historic high of crayfish in 2017, reaching the milestone figure of one million metric tons (MT) of production, up from nearly 900,000 MT in 2016.
The country had a record 666,000 hectares of crayfish ponds in 2017, according to the China Crayfish Association. The total suggests producers of other freshwater species continue to shift to crayfish, particularly in the inland provinces of Hubei and Hunan.
China exported only 23,360 MT of its 900,000 production in 2016, while it imported 3,633 MT of crayfish in 2016, compared to 3,228 MT in 2015. Yet exports clearly rose in 2016, up from 19,948 MT exported in 2015.
Price gouging by merchants “taking advantage of consumer demand” as well as seasonal demand “bottlenecks” and inconsistent quality are all problems facing the sector, according to the Crayfish Association Chairman Li Jian. Speaking at his organization’s recent annual conference, Li said “standardization” and branding, as well as more value-added production, were priorities for his organization. Li warned that price gouging risked “turning consumers away from crayfish.”
Photo courtesy of kh.on.cc
