Drought pinched Louisiana's crawfish harvest, but mudbug fans are weathering the shortage
Louisiana crawfish are in demand despite a shortage of the mudbugs driven by last summer’s drought, extreme heat, saltwater intrusion on the Mississippi River and a hard winter freeze
BATON ROUGE, La. — In Jeff Pohlmann's 39 years of selling crawfish in Louisiana he has never seen the industry face such an abysmal shortage of “mudbugs.”
Driven by last summer's drought, extreme heat, saltwater intrusion on the Mississippi River and a hard winter freeze, the nation’s top producer of crawfish harvested a fraction of what is typical of the tiny crustaceans in a season — with tens of thousands of acres lost or failing. And while Louisianans are still buying and selling crawfish, a staple in Gulf Coast seafood boils and a part of Louisiana's “way of life,” the crisis can be felt across the state.
“I’ve never experienced this before and it hits you in the pocketbook,” said Pohlmann.
At the annual Louisiana Crawfish Festival in St. Bernard Parish, fans chowing down on crawfish pasta, bread, pies and etouffee said the crustaceans have been limited so far this season. Some said they have yet to attend a crawfish boil, popular during Lent when many in the heavily Catholic south Louisiana seek alternatives to meat. Pounds of the freshly cooked mudbugs with corn and potatoes are poured onto communal tables.
High prices have meant that “nobody has really been boiling,” said Sara Garcia, a Louisiana resident who often attends the festival.
Despite spring rain and the crawfish shortage, vendors at the festival were slinging droves of Styrofoam boxes filled with tasty red crustaceans, fixings and dipping sauce. However, many noted that the prices for a pound of mudbugs were higher than usual, which has been evident across the state.
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