CRAWFISH AQUACULTURE IS RECEIVING UNPRECEDENTED ATTENTION BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES AND HAS EXPANDED TO A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR GLOBAL INDUSTRY. CONSUMER DEMAND NON-INTENSIVE GROWING CONDITIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY ATTRIBUTES ARE ALL CONTRIBUTING TO EXPANSION. IN 2018 LOUISIANA PRODUCED APPROXIMATELY 153 MILLION POUNDS OF AQUACULTURED CRAWFISH ON 235984 ACRES UP 6% FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR. SEVERAL STATES WITH ESTABLISHED RICE INDUSTRIES ARE ALSO EXPLORING CRAWFISH CULTIVATION. CRAWFISH ARE PRODUCED IN FLOODED FIELDS WITH BAITED TRAPS THAT ARE HARVESTED 40-90 TIMES PER YEAR. BAITING AND TRAPPING (LABOR) TYPICALLY ACCOUNT FOR OVER HALF OF PRODUCTION EXPENSES. FOR THE US CRAWFISH INDUSTRY TO COMPETE GLOBALLY AND CONTINUE EXPANDING ROBOTIC HARVESTING WILL BE CRITICAL FOR LOWERING COSTS AND REDUCING DEPENDENCE ON LABOR. ROBOTIC HARVESTING OFFERS ADVANTAGES FOR SIGNIFICANT SCALE-UP AND EXPANSION BY UNCOUPLING LINKAGES TO WORKER FATIGUE HIGH LABOR COSTS AND WORKER SHORTAGES. THE FIRST PHASE OF THIS SEED GRANT RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE YET ECONOMICAL TRAPS THAT ARE CONDUCIVE TO ROBOTIC HANDLING. THE SECOND PHASE OF THE SEED PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT OF TRAP SENSING TECHNOLOGY AND ROBOTIC OPERATION (PICKUP EMPTYING RE-BAITING AND RESETTING TRAPS). CONCEPTUALLY THE PROPOSED CRAWFISH HARVESTING SYSTEM IS ANALOGOUS TO A GARBAGE PICK-UP TRUCK WITH A HUMAN DRIVER AND WITH A ROBOTIC ARM FOR LIFTING EMPTYING AND RESETTING GARBAGE BINS. UPON SUCCESSFUL TESTING AND DEMONSTRATION AGCENTER INVESTIGATORS PLAN TO SEEK EXTERNAL FUNDING FROM STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES TO ADVANCE THIS EFFORT TO A FULLY AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC HARVESTER.