We are finding a lot of reasons to really like our friend El Nino. Granted El Nino isn't a person, it's an atmosphere condition that occurs when the waters of the Pacific Ocean are slightly warmer than normal. When this weather phenomenon occurs it usually means less tropical activity for the Gulf of Mexico and bigger crawfish for you and I.

Since Hurricane season won't get started until June the first, let's concentrate on the crawfish.  Sherbin Collette of Henderson is a member of the  Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board and he gives the credit for what is shaping up to be an incredible crawfish season to El Nino.

So it’s El Nino that’s doing it because it’s very rare to get flood waters that early in the season, which in turn is gonna help in the basin.

That's the Atchafalaya Basin that Collette is referring to and he says the higher water and warmer weather have got the mudbugs moving early. He also says the higher water really flushed out the basin with cleaner water too.  That means that fishermen have been able to get into places they haven't fished for a while.

They haven’t fished them in a few years, and whatever’s gonna run there, it’s gonna be big crawfish. There’s no doubt about that.

In his comments to the Louisiana Radio Network Collette said that consumers should expect bigger crawfish but don't expect a break in the price. Although there could be better prices later in the season as more people are fishing the state's waters. He suggest a lot of people who are out of work in the oilfield might be doing some crawfishing on the side to help make ends meet.

Of course, people have to understand the price can go down a certain amount because if it goes down too much, the fishermen cant’ make it.

The peak of the traditional crawfish season hits during the months of March, April, and May and the season usually runs through the  month of June.

 

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