Crucial Louisiana Crawfish Price Details Revealed For Mardi Gras

Can you feel it? Mardi Gras momentum is ramping up through the state of Louisiana this week as revelers from Lafayette, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans all prepare themselves for big parades. There will be parades in smaller communities as well plus some of the rural parts of the state will host their annual Mardi Gras "chicken-runs". 

Mardi Gras is a good time to be in Louisiana. Not only do you have the fun and frivolity associated with Fat Tuesday you can also find some really good things to eat. And it looks like this year crawfish will be returning to the menus of several parade viewing parties and bead-catching soirees.

Last year was not a good year for crawfish at Mardi Gras or any other time for that matter. The historic drought of 2023 extended into early 2024 and that pretty much sucked the life out of the crawfish season for many folks in Louisiana. But there is good news awaiting Mardi Gras revelers with the "envie" for mudbugs this year.

Crawfish prices have taken a decided dip over the past week and the trend is for lower prices as we move closer to Mardi Gras and into the Lenten season. Crawfish prices last year were almost double what they are now. The reason for the high prices then is the reason for the lower prices now, supply.

While the price of crawfish at the docks hasn't changed much in the past week the retail price for crawfish has dipped about .20 to .30 cents per pound. The reason for the lower price point is that more suppliers are offering products this year compared to last year. That competition is keeping the prices down for consumers.

As of last week, the average price for live crawfish was reported to be $4.10 a pound with the price of boiled crawfish averaging $6.49 a pound. Based on the current thinking prices will continue to drop as we move toward the Lenten Season. Using historical data for comparison it does look as if this year's season will be what Louisiana crawfish lovers would call a "normal" season.