Slow crawfish season leaves suppliers in a pinch

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – This year’s crawfish production is slower than usual.

After high temperatures and drought over the summer, the crawfish harvest is low and the prices are high.

KBTX visited The Crawfish Hole, where their cooler, which is usually filled with crawfish, was empty.

Brandyn Straas, the general manager for The Crawfish Hole, says this year it’s harder to come by those delicious mudbugs as crawfish sales are down 5,500 pounds this year compared to last year.

Straas said the drought in Louisiana affected crawfish production big time.

“We looked at Superbowl weekend last year and we went through about 6,000 pounds in a week, this past week we maybe went through 600,” said Straas.

KBTX also spoke with the owner of Shipwreck Grill, Wade Beckman, who says this year’s crawfish production is the lowest he’s seen in years.

“We have never seen anything like this year, complete devastation to the market,” said Beckman.

Beckman says last year one could get a pound of crawfish for less than $5, now, that price has more than doubled.

“If you were to get crawfish today, which you can’t for the most part, they are $10 per pound, so double the craziest highest price,” says Beckman.

It’s not only hurting customers’ wallets, but it’s also hurting restaurants that see an uptick during crawfish season.

“It affects our business by thousands and thousands of dollars,” says Beckman.

While crawfish are small, the effects are extensive.

“It’s a giant industry so it’s just like when you look across at another industry that’s going down. It’s everything from the people that fish it, to the people that supply it, to the restaurants that sell it and it’s a big deal,” says Beckman.

Both Shipwreck Grill and The Crawfish Hole say they expect crawfish season to pick up in March.

Straas with The Crawfish Hole is hopeful supply will start to come around as early as the end of this month. He says the weather in Louisiana has been favorable for crawfish and that’s the perfect recipe for a larger harvest.

“Weather is good for crawfish right, you know, with the rain patterns and sunshine and things like that,” said Straas.

Straas says crawfish sales so far are lagging from last year, but the weekly crawfish production has a chance of catching up in March.