Early morning temperatures have been dipping into the 30's the past several days in Acadiana. Add to that a very cool rain this morning and you have a lot of people not wanting to get out into the weather. Crawfish are the same way.

When the weather gets cool they like to just stay where they are. This function of instinct in Acadiana's most enjoyable crustacean could mean higher prices or a slight shortage of crawfish over the weekend and perhaps into Mardi Gras.

Dr. Greg Lutz is an aquaculture specialist with the LSU Ag Center and he explains,

"Because we cannot harvest those guys unless they cooperate.  We've got to get them to crawl into the trap.  And when the water gets this cold, they don't crawl anywhere.  They just sit there."

Lutz made those comments to the Louisiana Radio Network. He went on to say that many Acadiana fishermen don't even bother running the traps when the weather is cool. It cost the same to pull up an empty trap as it does a full one. With the promise of less than a stellar catch at hand many fishermen simply wait out the cooler weather like the crawfish.

The good news is that temperatures are expected to moderate over the weekend and this should get the crawfish moving and into the traps again.

"As soon as they do warm up above, say, 55 degrees or so, those crawfish will get active again."

Dr. Lutz says that any shortage of crawfish because of this cool snap should be short lived and the season should start to pick back up. With warmer weather expected over the next few weeks and a lot of sunshine to go with it the mudbugs should be quite active. That means that it will be much easier for you and I to find them at our favorite restaurants or in our own boiling pots at home.

 

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