LA - Drought, Heat And Saltwater Intrusion Push Collapse In Crawfish Production (Wild And Farmed)

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry issued a disaster declaration Wednesday for the state’s critical crawfish industry, as extreme weather disrupted this year’s harvest and triggered a shortage of the tiny crustaceans. Louisiana is the country’s top producer of crawfish – a staple in Gulf Coast cuisine such as crawfish étouffée, gumbos and po-boys. The brick-red creatures have been harvested commercially in Louisiana since the 1800s, and the industry brings in more than $300 million for the state’s economy each year.

Early estimates from Louisiana State University’s Agriculture Center showed potential losses to the state’s crawfish industry could be nearly $140 million for this year’s harvest season. But the economic blow could ultimately be higher, said Mark Shirley, a crawfish specialist at the center. While crawfish production has increased in recent months, the industry’s numbers remain “disastrously low,” he told CNN.

The shortage also affected Mardi Gras. Carnival season usually attracts tourists to New Orleans from all over the world, where they tend to gorge on the state’s classic seafood boils that typically include pounds of freshly cooked crawfish. It’s also a popular staple during Lent season, when most of Louisiana’s Catholics seek seafood alternatives to meat.

Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, lamented the blow to Mardi Gras this year in a late-February letter to the US Department of Agriculture that requested federal relief.

EDIT

https://thinc.blog/2024/03/07/louisiana-declares-crawfish-emergency-following-drought-heat-salt-water-intrusion/