Crawfish Crisis: Louisiana could see an all-time low season

Bad news for mudbug lovers, Louisiana’s crawfish harvest is expected to hit an all time low this year. Crawfish season usually lasts from November to July, but this past year has seen extremely hot conditions and drought making it harder for crawfish farmers to harvest them.

Photo bycoopcancook.com

Mark Shirley with LSU's AGCenter said, “It’s going to be the worst season ever. The population is just not there. The buyers are offering $7 and $8 a pound to the fishermen just to try to get them to go out and bait traps and go find them. It could be whatever price, they’re just not there.”

To give you an idea of just how bad prices have increased, a sack of live crawfish is between 30-35 pounds. At $8-$10 per pound, a sack of crawfish will run you between $240-$350 right now. In a normal harvest year, the price of a sack would be around $60-$80.

Live crawfishPhoto byProject Noah

Crawfish are a good source of high-quality protein which are low in calories, fat and saturated fat. They are also sources of vitamin B12, niacin, iron, copper and selenium. Crawfish are mostly served boiled, but they are also served in a variety of dishes, like pastas, gumbo and etouffée.

Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain said, “We’ve lost a lot of our crawfish. They simply did not survive the drought. They may fish all day and instead of catching 30 or 40 sacks, they catch five or six.”

Photo byBaton Rouge Business Report

Louisiana is the largest harvester of crawfish in the country so the effects will be felt not just in the state but nationwide. Shirley also said that this could affect next season as well. The fields that do not have crawfish this year will have to be restocked and with limited availability. So this could create issues for the 2025 crop too.