Louisiana crawfish catch, size increase after freeze delayed harvest houmatoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from houmatoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Winter weather temporarily froze crawfish harvesting and its market, but spring weather has started to melt away the effects as the catch and size increase.
The arctic air brought freezing temperatures, power outages and water-access issues across most of Louisiana. As a result, many of Acadiana s ponds had a thin layer of ice on the surface.
At the mud line, where crawfish grow, the temperature dropped to about 35 degrees, causing the cold-blood crustaceans metabolism to slow dramatically, said Mark Shirley, LSU AgCenter aquaculture specialist. The freeze didn t kill the crawfish; it just delayed the harvest and delayed growth, he said. At the same time, it was so cold, people didn’t move didn’t go out to eat. During that whole week, there was almost no demand because people didn’t get out or wouldn’t get out.
BATON ROUGE The LSU AgCenter is surveying agricultural producers to estimate damage totals resulting from last month’s freezing weather.
The recent freezing weather came just as farmers were getting back on their feet from last year’s disastrous hurricane season.
Kurt Guidry, LSU AgCenter economist, said he is compiling information for a report on how the freeze has affected agriculture, and he is sending out emails for a survey to make estimates.
Most of the losses he’s heard about involve livestock, particularly in north Louisiana. The storm came as cows were in the middle of calving season, and many newborns did not survive the cold.
Crawfish crop should return post-freeze; North Louisiana cattle not so lucky thenewsstar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenewsstar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Crawfish supply rebounds in Houston but they might have a tough season Greg Morago
As Houston continues to work its way out of an icy grip, the crawfish that is so much a part of local dining traditions is also emerging from the big chill.
Last week’s historic freeze put a temporary dent in crawfish harvesting from producers in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana where crawfish ponds were iced over. That caused a supply disruption that, fortunately for Houston diners, came at a time when there wasn’t high demand (restaurants were closed during last week’s power and water issues).