BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Last week’s cold weather brings concerns to farmers and restaurants that are getting ready for crawfish season.
“Supply has basically been shut off with these freezing temperatures because we need the crawfish to cooperate. We need them to go into the trap. So when it’s this cold, they just don’t move,” said Greg Lutz, who studies aquaculture and teaches at LSU.
Lutz says cold weather does not kill crawfish, but the crawfish will become inactive. That means fewer mudbugs to catch.
“They are just not going to do anything until the water warms up again,” said Lutz. “The cold itself is not going to hurt our crawfish, but it does keep them from growing or eating or it sort of puts a freeze or a stop, if you will, on the populations of crawfish that we have.”
He says there are more concerns about the lack of rain a few months back — which is essential for production.
“Part of the crawfish-producing region just did not get that rain in October and even on into November. To get those little baby crawfish up out of the ground so they could start growing,” said Lutz.
Anyone planning a yummy crawfish boil can expect a low supply and high cost. But, despite weather challenges, Lutz says he expects a normal season.
