LSU Ag Center Crawfish Specialist Mark Shirley says crawfish availability continues to be in short supply as Catholics are avoiding red meat during Lent. He says there has been a bit of a rebound, but the overall crop of crawfish is still low.
“We’ll continue to see a slight increase in supply but it might go from 10 percent of normal maybe up to 15 of normal but it’s still way short.”
Crawfish normally lay eggs in August but the state’s drought dried out those areas where they normally retreat to reproduce. Some crawfish farmers have small immature mudbugs that are currently in a growing phase.
Shirley says increased irrigation demands will continue to result in higher production prices for crawfish farmers. And while crawfish fishermen are seeing a drop in prices, he says they’re watching their cost very closely.
“It’s all a matter of can they afford to fish? Can they afford to buy some bait and pay the labor and fuel and stuff to go out there and catch those crawfish?”
The going cost for a pound of crawfish in the Bayou State is around $13.99 per pound, compared to $6.35 per pound last year. While Louisiana Catholics can expect to pay more for the state crustacean, Shirley says there are other tasty options like oysters, shrimp, fish, and…
“Alligator is also considered seafood by the Catholic church, so you can enjoy some fried alligator or something or sauce piquante.”
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