ENTERTAINMENT

Is there enough boiled crawfish to go around?

Megan Wyatt
mbwyatt@theadvertiser.com
Jamie Stutes tosses an order of freshly boiled crawfish in seasoning Wednesday, February 18, 2015, at Lagneaux's in Lafayette, La.
  • Price of crawfish high but typical for this time of the year.
  • Crawfish availability will vary on day-to-day basis because of weather.
  • Early Lenten season means greater demand. Suppliers could sell out of crawfish early.
  • Crawfish season outlook is positive and should improve as weather warms.

Will there be enough crawfish to go around for the first Friday of the Lenten season? It's a question that crawfishermen, restaurant owners and consumers are all asking.

And the answer is yes and no.

"The supply will probably be a little bit tight," says crawfish expert Mark Shirley. "If you want to have boiled crawfish, you probably should arrive at the restaurant early or get in line at your favorite boiling outlet early.

"They'll be very likely to sell out at some point during the night."

Shirley, an aquaculture specialist for the LSU AgCenter in Abbeville and the Louisiana Sea Grant, says the crawfish supply, size and price is about average for this time of year.

But the Lenten season falls earlier than many years, so the demand for crawfish, especially on Fridays when Catholics traditionally abstain from meat, is higher.

"Normally, during the winter months when the harvest is low, the prices are high," Shirley says. "With Lent, the demand is a greater factor, which makes prices especially high at this time of year."

Live crawfish are purged, or cleaned, Wednesday, February 18, 2015, at Lagneaux's in Lafayette, La.

Prices vary greatly depending on the weather and available supply of crawfish. Colder weather means less crawfish.

Although the crawfish season runs from December to June, crawfish are most plentiful when the temperature is in the 60s. Peak months for crawfish are March, April and May, but Louisiana weather can make for a plentiful supply one week and a pitiful supply the next.

And that's no good for area crawfish restaurants and consumers.

"We're still on a day-to-day wait to know if we're going to be open or not," says Dwight's Restaurant manager Brandy Breaux Mitchell.

Customer Ronnie Duhon digs into crawfish at Lagneaux's in Lafayette.

Sometimes, the restaurant's staff doesn't know until 2 p.m. if they will be able to open for 5 p.m. that same day. Other days, they're lucky and know by 10 a.m., Mitchell said.

They let customers know if they will be open or closed on any given day with a sign on Johnston Street, social media posts and website updates.

Dwight's is currently charging $24 for a three-pound order of boiled crawfish and $38.50 for a five-pound order of boiled crawfish. The prices are typical for this time of the year, Mitchell said, but it doesn't make it any easier to keep up with the demand.

Boiled crawfish, potatoes and corn are prepared to serve to a customer Wednesday, February 18, 2015, at Lagneaux's in Lafayette, La.

The restaurant boils anywhere from 800 to 1,500 pounds of crawfish on any given Friday during Lent. Dwight's works with seven or eight different crawfishermen for its supply.

"It makes it harder to make ends meet at the beginning of the season because we don't always know if we're going to have them," Mitchell said. "The earlier Lent is, the worse it is for us because it's all dependent on the weather."

But Lagneaux's Restaurant owner Brian Lagneaux disagrees.

"I think it helps, actually, because the price of crawfish is up," he says. "You get top dollar for the crawfish. It's good for the business profit-wise as long as we're catching and have enough to serve."

Jamie Stutes purges, or washes, live crawfish Wednesday, February 18, 2015, at Lagneaux's in Lafayette, La.

The restaurant boils between 400 to 800 pounds of crawfish on any given Friday during Lent. The restaurant's supply of crawfish comes from ponds owned by Lagneaux.

The restaurant is currently charging $6 per pound of boiled crawfish.

And although that price might sound high, Lagneaux, Mitchell and Shirley agree that the market price of crawfish is typical for this time of year when the weather is cool, the supply is low and the demand is high.

The three said that though it's early in the season, the crawfish outlook is promising.

"The hot-cold weather is not really helping the situation out," Lagneaux said. "But so far, it's looking pretty good. The crawfish are a good size already. As soon as the weather warms up, they're going to take off for sure."