If you want crawfish, you may need to pay more than usual
(KLFY) -- This year's crawfish season is projected to be one of the slowest.
According to farmers and the Crawfish App, if you want crawfish you may have to pay more than what you are used to. Guy Foreman has been the crawfish farmer for over 20 years. He said this season has been the worst he's ever seen, and it's all because of the recent drought in Louisiana has experienced.
"It's just something we never experienced before," Foreman said.
Currently, demand is high for crawfish, but unfortunately, supplies are low, resulting in an uptick in the prices.
Foreman's coolers are usually filled with sacks of crawfish this time of the year, but he currently has no product. Over the summer, crawfish are known to burrow into the ground to find water. Foreman said the lack of rainfall and consistent heat over the summer likely killed a lot of the crawfish. He said he is feeling the impact of it this harvest.
"For about a week I fished 3200 traps every other day, and the best I did was 21 pounds and that is horrible," he said.
The Crawfish App tracks the price of crawfish across the state. According to cofounder Laney King, this week in 2020 crawfish were $6.99/lbs. In 2023, they were $7.69/lbs. This year, the app says prices have nearly doubled.
"If you get on the Crawfish App, you're not going to find Louisiana crawfish for under about $12.99/lbs," King said. "This is unheard of in Louisiana. We've never seen prices this high."
Foreman said he had to take a break from harvesting until next month as it is not worth the hard work without the return he normally gets.
"I'm gonna start again mid-February, March to see what happens, and we will go from there," Foreman said.
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