Doing research on marron farming

Good day. I'm currently doing research on marron farming in South Africa. I understand there is currently only a few farms in SA, WC and Limpopo.... and possible Free state. Does anyone know about these farms, and how they can be contacted? Through my reseach I have mostly gotten information from Australian sources, but would like to hear from the SA sector.

 

I had to google to see what they are, and I see they are a type of fresh water crayfish.

Given that piece of information I reckon you would be wise to first find out whether or not they are blacklisted in South Africa. If they are, I'm afraid its a no-go for both legal and environmental reasons. There are quite a few threads on this forum that reference the black list (invasive species list) so maybe browse the forum a bit first to see if you can get that document.

http://invasives.org.za/component/k2/item/796-marron-cherax-tenuimanus

 

They aren't black listed as such, but there is a permit that you have to apply for. And very stringent criteria that you have to meet. Thank you for your feed back. As for the technical and administrative aspects I am covered. There is just some questions that I would like to ask current marron farmers that are not available for SA conditions and circumstances, or are solely based on Australian models. I have googled marron farmers in SA, and even though there is vage mention of them, there is no contact details or any other information regarding them.

 

Might be worthwhile to contact people in related fields such as aquaponics/aquaculture. They might be able to better direct you.

Old article
https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-business/agribusinesses/the-commercial-viability-of-aquaponics/

or
https://aquaponics.africa/

 

A friend of mine wanted to start farming Marron in the Nelspruit area. The Dept of Agriculture and Fisheries has a loooooog list of what you can and cannot do. There are so many restrictions to farming them. - fences, walls, not allowed near a river or dam, not near a flood area, guarantee that the farmer will never allow them to get in to fresh water areas..... the list goes on and on. It was all to complicated and difficult he gave up on the idea. I do remember him saying that there was a person doing it near Franschoek ??? area, and he had a friend in Kenya doing it very successfully and exporting to the U.K. He has passed away in the meantime so I cannot get any more info for you sadly. They are bloody DELICIOUS to eat I have to add!!!!!

 

The Cherax Tenuimanus (Hairy Marron) and the Cherax Destructor (Common Yabby) have infested waterways in the Mpumalanga Lowveld area.
Many of the rivers, notably the Crocodile, Kaap, Komati and Lomati rivers as well as smaller tributaries have exploding populations of these crustaceans.
They have also inhabited canals, streams and other irrigation systems, where they cause damage by burrowing into the earthern walls.

My brother lives in Malelane on the banks of the Crocodile river, and in a matter of 10 minutes his staff managed to catch a 20 litre bucket full of these crustaceans.
They all range to between 15-20cm in length, and many of the females had greenish eggs under their bellies, much like our berried female shrimp.
I wish I had thought to take some photos at the time.

This infestation apparently started in the Plaston or Schagen area, when an earthern dam that was being used to breed the Cherax overflowed, and spilled into the Crocodile river.

The local populations don't want to eat these crayfish, as they say they are carriers of various diseases.
My brother tried eating some, and said they had a heavy muddy taste.
After leaving them in an old bathtub for a week, where they changed out the water daily with fresh borehole water, the taste improved, but was still not very pleasant.

 

DAMN !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did not realize that the little critter is already in some of our rivers. They are RUTHLESS little killers of any other fish and crustaceans - that i know for a fact. Yes and that is why the DAFF have drawn up those rules I guess - because of that one dam that burst.
It's strange because when ever I see them being used in cooking channels - the people eating them all rave about the taste - probably got to do with 'cleansing' them a certain way before consuming them.
I also seem to remember now .... they always talk about eating the 'Yabby" variety ??? Maybe that's the better one for the table ?

 

That muddy taste is caused by geosmin (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosmin) you can get rid of it by adding an acid like vinegar or lemon juice when you marinade or cook it!

 

Pretty much the same as freshwater fish lie Carp etc..
If marinated in lemon juice it does take most of the muddy taste away