Pond crawfishermen, such as the man above, and the people who love to eat crawfish are waiting to see what the year will bring harvest-wise to Acadiana.
Will crawfish like these be in abundance this season? Some say the crawfish harvest might be a slow one.
The Daily Iberian files
Pond crawfishermen, such as the man above, and the people who love to eat crawfish are waiting to see what the year will bring harvest-wise to Acadiana.
No one has a crystal ball to predict the outcome of this year’s harvest for crawfish, or so says local pond crawfish farmer Greg Durand in St. Martinville.
As peak harvest season approaches, it appears local crawfishmen and state officials have mixed reviews as far as theoutcome of the harvest is concerned. The Teche Area’s crawfish, so popular for boils for gatherings of family and friends, come mainly from ponds and in and around the Atchafalaya Basin.
“It looks slow and it looks terrible,” Durand said Monday morning. “They have a lot ofpeople making predictions, and I don’t have a crystal ball, but what I can say is this year looks slower than last year. These guys trying to fish now ain’t making no money.”
Durand said the weather has played a role in the slow season. The outlook so far has been so poor he said he has not set any traps in the water.
“It’s not worth me playing with it. Right now it looks slow. It looks like it’s (crawfish harvest) going to be less than last year and the way it’s going with the weather, it doesn’t look good,” Durand said.
Durand said the weather always plays a big factor in the outcome of the harvest. If it’s too hot, or too cold the effects could be drastic, he said.
“If it’s too hot the mama dies in the hole, or if it’s raining too much the mama comes out and leaves,” Durand said. “We don’t have the numbers like we used to and like everything else the cost goes up and it just costs more to farm now than it did in the past. Everybody around me doesn’t look good.”
Ray McClain, LSU AgCenter crawfish researcher, was a little more optimistic on his view of the crawfish harvest. McClain said weather conditions have been favorable for harvesting.
“Well, it’s a little hard to say for sure since there hasn’t been a lot of harvest yet, but the factors have been very favorable. It’s been a wet summer, which is good for stock survival,” McClain said. “Most of the factors have been favorable for a good crop year.”
McClain said last year’s harvest was relatively slow due to a very cold winter. Because of the extended cold weather, the growth rate of crawfish was affected negatively.
As far as wild crawfish are concerned, McClain said it is still too early to predict the harvest. Generally, the higher the water levels are inside the Basin, the better the harvest will be, he said.
“The water level has to be high and it has to stay high for a good crop. I think it takes about 12 feet, but it’s a little early for a lot of water in the Basin for this time of year anyway,” McClain said.
According to the National Weather Service, the Atchafalaya River stage is at 7.53 feet today and forecast to be at 9.3 feet by Jan. 10.
“It all depends on water and water levels at the basin. It’s governed by what happens in the Mississippi drainage,” McClain added. “There’s nothing definitive at this point.”
From an economic standpoint, smaller catches mixed with less profit equals higher prices for local stores selling crawfish.
Menson LeBlanc, co-owner of the Seafood Connection in New Iberia, said the demand for crawfish is high this time of year. The peak is in a few weeks, most merchants and lovers of the boiled crustacean know, particularly during the weeks leading up to Easter.
“Every other call I get is for crawfish. Everyone wants crawfish right now,” LeBlanc said. “I’m trying to see what the harvest will be like, but no one has told me if it’s going to be good or bad and, of course, the prices are still high.”
Seafood Connection sells crawfish for around $26.95 for 4 pounds cooked, LeBlanc said, with the business paying anywhere from the low-to-mid $3 per pound range.
Another issue affecting local prices is how much Louisiana exports its prized mudbugs.
Mike Strain, Louisiana commissioner of agriculture, said the state’s farmers export about half of their harvest, per reports.
“I get a lot of my information from the local farmers, and if they’re saying it’s going to be a bad year that’s definitely not going to help prices,” LeBlanc said.
“The high prices are due to a lot of exporting. That’s what’s really hurting the industry. Now we’re going to have to pay higher prices.”
