Here we go, Louisiana farmers fear for survival of crawfish

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This year, at least half of Louisiana has been in extreme drought, and southwestern Louisiana is the driest part of the state. The continuous streak of record-high temperatures and minimal rainfall has resulted in an impenetrable layer of clay and cracking burrows, robbing the crustaceans of the moisture nutrients they rely on during their dormancy and ultimately killing them.

“Not all of them die but enough of them die to where that first hatching doesn’t happen. Nobody knows, the signs are not good,” Frugé said.

He is hoping the extensive water pumping his farm has done over the summer for his rice crops will be enough to keep the subterranean crawfish burrows moist. It is too early to tell the extent of the damage the drought has caused, Frugé said. But he knows it will have a negative impact on the season.

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