Keith Lusher 01.31.24
Louisiana crawfish farmers are within the midst of what they categorize because the worst crawfish season they’ve ever skilled. The three-month drought over the summer time wreaked havoc on the rice fields making the mud too dry for the crawfish to burrow down. Farmers have been hopeful that the rain that fell over the autumn and winter months may need been in a position to re-populate their ponds with crawfish nevertheless they stated they’re solely catching a handful of crawfish in every entice.
John Devereaux of Breaux Bridge, LA, is a type of farmers who’s seeing the demand at an all-time excessive however has no crawfish to produce the seafood consumers with. “The bugs simply aren’t there. I’m catching a fraction of what I usually catch this time of yr,” he stated. Devereaux stated he’s seeing crawfish going for $8.00 a pound. “The consumers need the bugs however we simply can’t get them. It’s irritating,” he stated.
Because the rice area farmers are struggling, Louisiana’s river fishermen are seeing a extra plentiful crop. I used to be in a position to make a visit with CJ Mayeux to the Honey Island Swamp. The swamp is fed by the East Pearl River which serves because the border between Mississippi and Louisiana. Mayeux stated the river crawfish might escape the drought over the summer time as a result of they all the time had entry to water. “The river was low this summer time but it surely didn’t go dry just like the ponds did,” he stated. Mayeux makes use of what’s referred to within the crawfishing business as “pillow traps”. These traps are formed like a pillow with two openings on one facet. As we approached his first spot he tossed a couple of lower pogey’s (menhaden) into the entice. He additionally added a 6-inch piece of processed crawfish bait known as Cajun World Crawfish Bait made by Purina. Mayeux tied the entice to an overhanging cypress department and set it at a 45-degree angle. “In the event you lay these traps flat on the underside you gained’t catch any as a result of the doorway holes aren’t touching the swamp backside,” he stated. As we maneuvered by means of the swamp Mayeaux set 30 traps earlier than we headed again. “I’ll test these traps each different day throughout crawfish season,” he stated.
Mayeaux is beginning to catch crawfish however admits it’s not like will probably be when the climate warms. “In April and Might I’ll be catching a sack of crawfish (40 lbs.) for each 10 traps I test. Whereas the wild-caught crawfish fishermen are working extra time to fill the absence of pond-raised crawfish, the quantity of crawfish they’ve caught is a drop within the bucket when in comparison with how a lot is produced by ponds. Farm-raised crawfish account for roughly 85% of crawfish harvested, and manufacturing from pure rivers and swamps accounts for roughly 15%.
