ST. MARTIN PARISH — As a wave of strong winter weather approaches Acadiana, local crawfish farmers and enthusiasts are left wondering how the upcoming freeze will impact the crawfish supply. Mark Shirley, an aquaculture specialist with the LSU AgCenter and LA Sea Grant, broke down the effects of winter temperatures on crawfish production. “Crawfish are crustaceans, and growing in this water, their movement, their metabolism, everything they do is dependent on water temperature,” he stated.
When temperatures dip, Shirley emphasized that crawfish activity slows considerably. “The colder it gets, they don't move, they don't grow, they just sit there,” he noted. He added that even if ice forms on the surface of ponds, the crawfish will remain unaffected, but largely inactive. “That’s what’s going to happen next week when we do have a freeze,” he continued. “Even if there’s some ice on the surface of the pond, the crawfish will still be ok—they’ll just sit there.”
In a demonstration of how the cold impacts crawfish availability, Shirley showed a trap containing only a few crawfish. "Well, here’s some crawfish out of the trap, it’s about five of them, and that’s kind of indicative of when we have some cold weather—you just don’t catch a lot of crawfish," he explained.
Shirley also highlighted that the cold weather’s impact is not limited to crawfish ponds but extends to other local environments, such as the Atchafalaya Basin, which is home to many wild-harvested crawfish. “St. Martin Parish, being in the Atchafalaya Basin area, has a lot of wild-harvested crawfish,” Shirley said. “Just like the ones in the ponds, their catch depends on water temperatures.”
However, Shirley noted that the Atchafalaya Basin may be less impacted by cold snaps in the region. “The basin is probably not as affected by the cold snaps we have here,” he explained. “The basin is affected by the water that’s coming down the Mississippi drainage.”
Despite the expected temporary slowdown in crawfish production, Shirley remains optimistic about the supply for the rest of the season. "If you really have the push to eat some crawfish right now, there are some available—not a big supply, but there are some available," he noted. “And judging by the young crawfish I’ve seen in the ponds, we should have a good supply of crawfish for the rest of the season.” Shirley expects the supply to pick up in the coming months
