Well, it looks like a food staple of the South will be hard to get a hold of.
“It’s going to be the worst season ever,” Louisiana State University AgCenter crawfish specialist Mark Shirley told Louisiana Radio Network. The crawfish “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.”
Rusty Shells Seafood in Belton. Owner Chris Perez, says this year’s crawfish season is, unfortunately, starting late. Now, for those who don’t know, Chris usually begins purchasing his crawfish as early as November. But this year, he won’t start until after Christmas.”
In Chris’s own words, “I was hoping we’d have Christmas dinner with crawfish. But Mother Nature had other plans.” Now, Chris is known for driving long hours to bring crawfish all the way from Louisiana to Central Texas. We’re talking about 3,000 pounds a week last year!”
Due to the recent drought and cold weather down south, our little crawfish friends are struggling. They’re having a tough time growing and surviving. And what does that mean for us? Well, Chris has been in touch with multiple farmers and the news isn’t great. They’re pulling in low numbers of crawfish in their traps.”
Expect prices to soar. A live sack of crawfish that usually costs between $3.50 to $4 a pound could now reach up to $7 a pound. And the size? They won’t be as big as we’re used to. We’re talking small to medium-sized crawfish for the first few months of the year.
“The mud from May through July was often too dry for the crawfish to burrow down in, and many of them died or their growth was stunted,” food website Eater Houston reports. “Now many farmers are waiting for the population to recover, but predictions of cold snaps in Louisiana this January also have some farmers worried and hesitant to spend money on bait, gas to run boats, and labor to check crawfish traps daily until conditions show improvement.”
Mississippi seafood market K&B Seafood recently posted on social media that farmers aren’t the only ones who are going to be hurting.
“If you are able, please support your local farmers, docks, and boiling houses as this will be a really tough year for everyone involved,” K & B Seafood wrote.