Maurice, La. - Despite a rough start to the crawfish season, things are looking up. Everyone from farmers to business owners and customers felt the impact of the crawfish shortage.
“We can sleep a little better at night knowing that the rest of the season should be normal,” Pinchers Owner Kevin Colomb said.
His love for the kitchen started at a young age. At age 30, Kevin started a seafood food truck called Pinchers in Erath. Three years later, he opened up a brick and mortar in Maurice.
Following last year’s dry spell and this year’s freezing temperatures, crawfish supply looked a little different this season.
“The crawfish season started rocky and we all experienced high prices, the availability of crawfish was very limited and the prices were unbelievably high. We never experienced anything like that as an industry,” Kevin said.
According to the LSU Ag center, the potential losses to the state's crawfish industry is estimated to be 140 million dollars.
Back in February, the cost for five pounds of crawfish was between $42 to $57. Now, restaurants in Vermilion Parish are selling them for $25 to $35 dollars according to the crawfish app.
Despite the challenges, Kevin says he’s grateful for the community’s support as he pushes through this difficult season.
“As the season has progressed, the cost has gone down, and you know, the supply has increased and I’m thankfully the demand has increased. This is sort of a silver lining to the start of what was a bad season. It looks like the rest of the season is going to hold strong.”
Pinchers is open seven days a week. For location and hours, click here.
