ACADIA PARISH, LA. — Last year's crawfish season faced many challenges due to drought and extreme temperatures, leading to a sharp decline in the harvest.
However, local crawfish farmers are feeling optimistic about this upcoming season due to early signs of a stronger season.
Mikey Stutes, co-owner of Allons Mange’, a newly opened restaurant in Crowley, remembers last year's harvest very well.
“So last year was really rough, we didn’t know what to expect with the drought," he says.
Having worked in the crawfish industry his entire life, and farming for the past 6 years, Stutes was particularly concerned about the impact of the drought.
"We were pumping trying to keep the rice good and we didn’t know how it would affect the crawfish. Early we weren't seeing signs of crawfish and we had some ponds that caught a little later but for the majority, most of our stuff didn’t catch," he says.
This year, however, things are looking much more promising.
According to Todd Fontenot, an expert at the LSU AgCenter’s crawfish ponds, the season is already off to a much better start.
"Well we are off to a much better start than we were last year," Fontenot said. "We are calling it more of a normal season."
He tells KATC that the crawfish are starting to come out even earlier, thanks to the already better weather.
“We did have a little bit of a dry spell back in August and end of September, but nowhere near last year's high temperatures and extended period of drought,” he says.
Fontenot feels that the harvest will be plentiful and of course, delicious.
“Once the ponds are flooded up we almost started seeing open burrows immediately with females emerging with young on their tail with what looked like good healthy hatchlings and they were able to disperse in the ponds,” says Fontenot.
Which is good news for local crawfish restaurants like Allons Mange' who depend heavily on a good and steady supply of crawfish.
“It's a relief from last year to see what we are seeing from this year," said Stutes. "This year we are seeing all varieties of crawfish, we are seeing mommas with babies some new crop some old crop. So it seems the birth rate was much better this year than it was last year."
Both Stutes and Fontenot say the best way to support our industry is by supporting local crawfish farmers.
