2024 Louisiana Crawfish Season Preview – Don’t Get Your Hopes Up

One of the reasons I believe people who live in Louisiana are so happy is that we always have something to look forward to. Sure, a lot of us are looking forward to Christmas. That's always a good motivator. Following Christmas people turn their attention toward New Year's Eve and lots of football. But what comes after that?

If you're in Louisiana you know there's Mardi Gras, which is going to come "early" this year. By "early" we're talking before Valentine's Day, so Mardi Gras will be on the minds of many before the fireworks of New Year's Eve fade away.

And still, there's another reason, even beyond Mardi Gras, that so many Louisiana residents have a reason to look forward. That reason is crawfish season. And just like when it's summertime and we're looking ahead to football, people in Louisiana are already planning and plotting for Louisiana Crawfish Season 2024.

When it comes to crawfish in Louisiana we lean on the LSU AgCenter for official information and updates on how the season is going. Right now, Crawfish Season 2024 is showing some signs of promise. Todd Fontenot with the LSU AgCenter told This Week in Louisiana Agriculture that some farmers are seeing crawfish starting to emerge.

However, this emergence is "late" compared to a typical season which could mean that the crawfish season will start a few weeks later than normal. But that's just one of the many unknowns crawfish producers in Louisiana will face this season.

The extremely high temperatures of summer and the unprecedented drought which still grips a large part of the state have taken a toll on the crawfish crop. Another issue the crawfish producers are facing this season is the intrusion of salt water into freshwater marshes and bayous. 

Crawfish producers in South Louisiana are most likely to feel the effects of higher-than-normal salinity levels in their ponds. Especially if that pond was connected to the Intracoastal waterway in some way. Some salinity levels in those ponds are the highest ever recorded and that will not bode well for crawfish production this season.

Of course, the flip side to that coin is being faced by many other crawfish producers and that is very little or no water at all. Many crawfish ponds across Louisiana are dry when they should be flooded. Producers don't want to have to pump water into the fields because that adds to the expense. And if you ask any crawfish producer in the state about expenses they will tell you, they're already way out of line. The cost of fuel, food, and labor are well above the seasonal norms.

What Should Louisiana Expect for Crawfish Season 2024?

Based on the available information and the current long-range weather forecasts I think we can safely deduce that:

1. Crawfish season will start later than usual this year

2. Crawfish supplies will be limited, especially early in the season

3. Crawfish prices will likely be higher because of higher expenses and limited supplies.

If you'd like to hear all this directly from the experts, the folks at This Week in Louisiana Agriculture have published this video on their YouTube channel.

It covers a lot of the points we've described and might help you better understand why you'll probably be paying more for your crawfish this year than you paid for them last year.