Crawfish Price sets Record High

Crawfish prices that buyers give to fishermen and farmers hit an all time high of $8.00 per pound today up from $6.50 last week. In addition, some buyers in Acadiana are already paying 50 cents to a dollar over market price to try and entice crawfish producers to sell their catch to them instead of their usual outlets.

Unprecedented supply shortages due to this past fall's extended drought and extreme heat have caused the price of live crawfish to double since the beginning of November when the market price was $4.00 per pound.

Crawfish mortality and other effects damaging the crawfish crop has occurred due to the atypical weather conditions but the extent and timeframe for recovery of the catch are unknown at this time. Best case scenario at this time indicates that the wild caught basin fisheries and improved pond populations could start to produce increased harvests in a couple of months once weather warms and spring floodwaters and snowmelt reach the Atchafalaya Basin.

This pbs.org article explains the difficulties and dynamics of the crawfish shortage that the industry is facing currently. Despite record prices the economic outlook is poor for farmers and fishermen since minimal amounts are being caught and profits from sales are not enough to offset increased labor, bait, fuel and energy costs due to the small volumes.