HOUSTON — Seafood lovers here in the South are facing a big problem. There's a serious shortage of crawfish and that's driving the price up.
Now, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry is asking the federal government to step in.
“For some of the farmers, they already know there are no crawfish in their ponds," said Dr. Mike Strain, commissioner for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry. “They know that already, you know, and those are the ponds that dried up completely and the water table dropped, you know, basically a foot or 18 inches below the top of the field and they know they will have no crawfish.”
Their office estimates that a third of Louisiana's crawfish ponds will come up empty this season.
However, with federal assistance, the commissioner said impacted farmers could get between $200 to $300 in relief for every acre of their ponds.
During Lent when Catholics avoid meat on Fridays, this shortage could add an extra headache since seafood is often a meat substitute.
KHOU 11 Meteorologist Chita Craft said severe swings in weather including last year’s drought and a freeze earlier this year are to blame for the shortage.
While Texas and Louisiana have seen more rainfall to start the new year, the shortage goes back to last year.
“So it's great news that, you know, we've had beneficial rain this year, but you really have to take it to the year previous for what's going on with the crawfish shortage right now,” she said.
There is a lot of recovery to make but the shortage will continue to drive up market prices over the next couple of months.