Crawfish season is winding down, and to say it was an unpredictable one is an understatement. LSU Ag Center Crawfish specialist Mark Shirley said towards the end of the season April and May, supply increased in some fields, but that wasn’t the case for every crawfish farmer.
“There was still a significant amount of acres that were flooded back in the fall that did not produce any crawfish or produce so few crawfish that the farmers just did not harvest those fields,”
At the start of the season, things looked extremely dire due to the summer drought and extreme heat. December through February Shirley said supply was down around 90%. In May supply increased, but Shirley said it was only 40 to 50 % compared to other Mays.
“Overall, I think if we add up the total pounds of crawfish from the total acres that were fished, we’re probably in the neighborhood of only about maybe 40% of a normal production year,” said Shirley.
As for the outlook for the next mudbug season, Shirley said farmers are cautiously optimistic.
“I think most of the fields have been restocked or are in the process right now of restocking. So, we’re kind of keeping our fingers crossed and hope for maybe back to a normal year for next year,” said Shirley.
Shirley says even though supply increased in April and May, for the most part, folks in south Louisiana were able to enjoy them. Out-of-state eateries went without mudbugs this season.
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