Hot and cold weather bode well for crawfish lovers

The warm and cold, back and forth temperature changes have many people caught somewhere between fall and winter, but such finicky weather can also hold the promise of a good crawfish season.
Mark Shirley with the LSU AgCenter and LA Sea Grant Marine agent, said, “The recent weather patterns, the fronts, help stimulate growth in crawfish. Low pressure systems trigger the molt, and crawfish get bigger shells and grow. Southeast winds, the rain, cool temperatures and the warm up stimulate molt. It happens with soft-shell crabs, too.”
“Crawfish need to molt about 12 to 15 times to get to a good market size. As long as the water temperature does not get down into the 40s or 30s — when water temperature gets that low, it slows down their metabolism and growth. When the temperatures warm back up to the 60s or 70s, it triggers another molt. So far, the crawfish season looks pretty promising.”
In 2013, 10.2 million pounds of crawfish were harvested by 125 producers in St. Landry Parish, and the haul of crustaceans had a gross farm value of $13.7 million, according to the Louisiana Summary of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Last year, the same number of producers harvested 10.5 million pounds of crawfish with a gross farm value of $14.1 million.
Several local plants are already getting in live crawfish from farmers, including Riceland Crawfish in Eunice.
The plant’s manager, Dexter Guillory, said, “We are getting in a few. Right now, the size is a good medium. It looks like it will be a pretty good season. We are already selling wholesale, but we will not boil to peel and pack until the spring, probably in March.”
Riceland deals primarily in wholesale crawfish sales, and all of the crawfish are locally caught and sold. While Guillory said the season looks promising, he is still concerned about the H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers visa cap that affected the number of seasonal workers allowed into the U.S. last year, which in turn affected several industries, including the crawfish business.
“The Spanish labor issue for peelers has not been resolved yet,” Guillory said. “The Feds are not being cooperative with us or any other industries on this matter. The plants and the producers pay the price. I am concerned. Hopefully it will be resolved by the spring.”
As for the crawfish being harvested right now, Shirley said the mud bugs are hold over and broodstock from last year.
“These were small and inactive crawfish from last year who survived last season,” he said.
“They burrowed and came back out. There is good stock right now and a good mixture of size. People can start eating crawfish now — they don’t have to wait.”
Shirley said prices for crawfish are high right now, but that it is typical for this time of the year, with low catch numbers, and the time of the week can also effect price.
“The catch will double or triple in springtime,” Shirley said. “It will be 20 to 40 crawfish per trap in the spring. With cooler temps, crawfish are slower to come to the trap.”
A few places in St. Landry Parish are selling boiled crawfish, and Crawfish House on U.S. 190 just west of Opelousas is selling medium sized boiled crawfish for $4.59 a pound. Busters in Elton is also serving boiled crawfish, and three pounds of mudbugs are selling for $18.99. College Junction’s Mud Bugs in Eunice will likely begin serving boiled crawfish by the end of this month, and Rocky’s Cajun Kitchen, DC’s Sports Bar and Steakhouse and Ruby’s Restaurant and Courtyard will start some time next year.
More crawfish will hit the market as farmers put traps into their fields.
“Across Acadiana, farmers are starting to put traps in fields,” Shirley said. “After Thanksgiving, many started running the test traps in their fields. If they caught five to 10 in test traps, they will put all the traps out, and most people put about 15 to 20 traps per acre. If they are just catching one or two per trap, they will wait a little longer.”
Shirley said good rains in October and lower fuel prices will also help with a good crawfish season.
“Things are looking good,” he said. “Fuel prices are down, which will help producers and truckers carrying crawfish to Houston and other states, compared to the last several years when prices of gas were over $2 per gallon. That will help a whole lot. It will also help with the cost of pumping water into lakes, and the rains in October helped to put water in the lakes, too.”