Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2009 > February > 17 > Entry
Crawfish season off to a crawl
Update: (My original post was intended to explain that my two favorite crawfish options in town don’t have them yet, but that doesn’t mean the city is entirely crawfish-free. The Boiling Pot on East Sixth Street has them for $9.95/lb. and Evangeline Cafe in South Austin is actually having a crawfish boil this Saturday, starting at 3:30 p.m., with the mudbugs going for $6.99/lb.)
Usually, by this time of the year, people are flocking to suck the heads off crawfish, nosh on buttery corn and savor new potatoes stacked in a messy array on butcher paper. Sadly, 2009 has not been the Year of the Crawfish.
I had heard the season was slow but I didn’t realize just how slow it was until I called the good folks over at two of my favorite places, Sambets Cajun Cafe (which you must visit, if you haven’t already) and Quality Seafood, who informed me that this is one of the slowest crawfish seasons in years. The shortage of the little mudbugs means that there are none to be had at this time.
The men at both places informed me that they hoped to have them next week, but it seems like the first week of March may be a safer bet.
Why the slow season? It seems Mother Nature is to blame.
According to the Shreveport Times:
Hurricane debris such as leaves and grass remained in some flooded ponds for weeks following Hurricane Gustav, sucking up the oxygen in the water and choking crawfish, said Mark Shirley with the LSU AgCenter.In southwestern Louisiana, crawfish farmers were hit by a drought, Shirley said. Crawfish burrow into the soil to hibernate. A lack of rain causes the soil to dry up and the crawfish die.
In Vermilion and lower Iberia parishes, Ike’s storm surge sent salt water into as much as 4,000 acres of crawfish ponds. They’re recovering slowly, Shirley said. Some may have reduced production later this year, but some will not produce enough to sell.
The good news is that by March or April the young crawfish that are present in ponds today but are too small to catch should be large enough for harvesting, he said.
So, fear not. While we may be off to a slow start and you won’t be elbow deep in butter, seasonings and crawfish juice any time too soon, it looks like the prospects for a good spring are still intact.
In the words of David Cook owner of the Crawfish Palace in Haughton, LA, “Nature beats us up early in the beginning, but it pays off in the end.”
Laizzes les crawfish roulez. (Eventually.)
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By sainthero
February 18, 2009 9:01 AM | Link to this
When Katrina hit New Orleans the crawfish season the following year was very weak due to the gulf water contaminating and ruining plenty of crawfish ponds. That’s the main reason this season is off to a slow start. Like the article in the Shreveport Times mentions Gustav hurting crawfish farmers, I know that Ike has affected many of ponds near Houston. Just hope it turns soon, I’m looking forward to some crawdads for St. Patty’s Day.