NEW ORLEANS — The drought that damaged much of Louisiana’s crops last summer also affected Louisiana crawfish farmers and the state’s crawfish supply.
Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser told WWL Louisiana that the prolonged drought reduced the supply of Louisiana crawfish to the market.
“A lot of them died through the drought. So, there's just not as many crawfish as there were last season. So, we hopefully will see the prices come down and make it through this year,” Nungesser said.
That dwindled crop of crawfish has the price-per-pound for crawfish higher than usual, but he says he is hopeful that the market will begin to stabilize and bring down prices.
“The weather this week definitely helped. I had some crawfish yesterday, sitting in a restaurant, about $6.50 a pound. They weren't a bad size. So, I think the price is coming down. And as the warm weather continues, they should get a little more plentiful,” said Nungesser.
While Louisiana farmers impacted by the drought can receive federal assistance through the federal Emergency Livestock Assistance Program, Governor Jeff Landry is calling on the federal government to expand that program to help Louisiana crawfish farmers just the same.
“I think it's something that should be just like any other crop. It's a little unusual. But the drought affects other crops much like it did the crawfish this year. So, absolutely should be eligible for federal assistance,” said Nungesser.
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