Drought pinched Louisiana's crawfish harvest, but mudbug fans are weathering the shortage
Louisiana crawfish are in demand despite a shortage of the mudbugs driven by last summer’s drought, extreme heat, saltwater intrusion on the Mississippi River and a hard winter freeze
BATON ROGUE, La. (AP) —
Feel free to change the headline. Stephen Smith is finishing video. Additionally, new crawfish photos should be uploaded soon. For now I am using filers.
In Jeff Pohlmann's 39 years of selling crawfish in Louisiana he has never seen the industry face such an abysmal shortage of “mudbugs.”
Driven by last summer's drought, extreme heat, saltwater intrusion on the Mississippi River and a hard winter freeze, the nation’s top producer of crawfish harvested a fraction of what is typical of the tiny crustaceans in a season — with tens of thousands of acres lost or failing. And while Louisianans are still buying and selling crawfish, a staple in Gulf Coast seafood boils and a part of Louisiana's “way of life,” the crisis can be felt across the state.
