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Crawfish hate the cold. When the temperature dips, they respond in kind, burrowing into the mud and refusing to eat. That means the few critters that have wriggled into farmers' traps this season are too puny to impress the many Louisianans who traditionally feast on crawfish during Lent.
"Mother Nature's throwing us a curve ball, and the trouble is she keeps throwing them," says Stephen Minville, director of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association.
Minville's 2010 harvest stands at about 30 percent of his typical year-to-date haul, with the most successful farmers topping out at 40 percent. "Optimism is running out," Minville says.
Like most farmers, crawfish producers serve at the pleasure of the weather. There's little they can do to combat cold snaps: "What does it cost for a water heater at home?" Minville laughs. "I have 30 million gallons of water. I don't know how much that costs to heat, and I don't want to know."
But crawfish producers always have the option to switch crops, which is what a number of farmers have chosen to do. After two decades of hovering at the break-even point, rice has become a cash crop in southern Louisiana.
"Last year, rice farmers did well," Minville explains. "Crawfish is a six- to seven-month, labor-intensive job. It's a lot easier for these guys to plant rice on April 1. A bunch of farmers are weighing their options."
For farmers who have crawfish to sell, the mudbugs are commanding gourmet prices: The Times-Picayune reports boiled crawfish is going for an extra $1 to $2 a pound. Live crawfish are especially scarce, with none of the six retailers in Minville's hometown posting the "live crawfish" signs they annually drag out for Lent.
"We're doing everything we can," Minville pleads. "Forgive us if we can't do it this year."
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3-12-2010 @4:48PM John F.C. Taylor said... Eventually, crawfish farmers are going to go high tech. We'll have heated ponds that'll keep crawfish at the temperature most comfortable for them to be active and feeding. Hope the farmers can hold out until that happens.
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3-12-2010 @9:23PM Polluted Louisiana said... I wouldn't eat ANYTHING from Louisiana's waters after Katrina! Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!!
3-12-2010 @5:54PM Dinah said... Thank you for this article. I was wondering why the crawfish were so small this year. I would normally buy 5lbs twice a week during the season, but I only bought crawfish once this year. I wish the farmers would find a way to increase the crawfish production in the future. I don't want crawfish farming to be replaced by rice. That's just not right!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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3-12-2010 @8:27PM bob said... Long live the mud bug.
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3-12-2010 @10:31PM gs said... go to wisconsin - they have millions of nice big non native crawfish they would like us to help them get rid of
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3-12-2010 @11:33PM drew lampkin III said... Another bit for those who think global climate change is a myth or tree-hugger plot. Just because average global temperature is edging up, it doesn't mean warmer everywhere all the time. what it does mean is that Mother Nature (aka, god) is going to continue to throw us curve balls, more and more frequently. don't look at events in isolation. step back and see the big picture. Seven billion people and counting. Dire catastrophe is on the way, sooner than you think.
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3-12-2010 @11:38PM kerry said... We a;ready have heated ponds......
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3-13-2010 @5:28AM Jean from Texas said... Long live the crawfish...not everyone will agree that they are good eating, but they usually haven't tried eating them. They just look at them and decide that they wouldn't eat them, especially if they were called mud bugs.
They just don't know what they are missing, but probably wouldn't like cat fish, venison and hot peppers either.
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3-13-2010 @9:57AM tim said... damn! talk about reinforcing stereotypes that you hillbillies will eat anything!
3-12-2010 @11:52PM vangie said... Just like eating big red roaches. Ugh! On a positive note, at least it looks like the Ageless Mate spammer hasn't hit this article. Maybe he/she fingures that anyone who wants to eat crawfish isn't interested in dating someone much older or younger than themselves.
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3-13-2010 @9:36AM Sister Alma said... Eating crawfish is a sin, according to the dietary laws specified in Leviticus. Believing in Jesus won't save you from burning in Hell for this atrocious sin! It is an unforgivable sin worse than homosexuality or being a mormon or roman catholic.
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3-15-2010 @1:10PM Catholic crawfish lover said... Whoa now! lol. Shut your lips Sister Alma! What you've wrote about crawfish and being a catholic is pretty rediculous. Whatever religion you are that says eating crawfish is a sin, hey......that's you. But dont put a label on catholic people who eat crawfish as if we worship the devil!
That is all.....God Bless!
4-14-2010 @3:05PM The Bible Reader said... Please read 1 Timothy 4:4. I will pray for you, Sister Alma, that your heart opens such that you can love all men and women. No matter what they eat. Blessed be our Father's name.
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