Flooding impact on crawfish is unknown
How the mid-August flooding affected crawfish won’t be known until farms start harvesting, said Todd Fontenot, an Extension agent, after a crawfish production meeting at Basile Tuesday.
Fontenot made that observation following presentations by three aquaculture experts, Dr. Greg Lutz, Dr. Ray McClain and Mark Shirley, from the LSU AgCenter.
About 100 people attended the meeting at Toups Crawfish.
McClain said the worst case scenario is for ponds flooded for three to four weeks.
Female crawfish usually emerge from their burrows with egg-laden tails in late August or early September, Lutz said.
“When they are down in those burrows that’s where they need to be,” Lutz said, “When we get foods too early and force them out only bad things can happen usually.”
McClain said the flooding affects pond management such as the introduction of fish into a pond requiring the pond to be dried and decomposing plant material may create low oxygen levels.
A single fish in a pond may end up costing the farmer a sack of crawfish, he said.
Fontenot said flooding occurred in area ponds, but if there was damage to the crop it would be revealed when farmers begin harvesting.
Flooding occurred across south Louisiana in August.
In 2014, the latest year for statistics, farm crawfish production was valued at $172 million.
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