Crawfish Prices Drop as Louisiana’s 2025 Season Rebounds from Historic Lows

Crawfish boil season is in full swing within the south, and crawfish costs throughout Louisiana have fallen to their lowest level of the 2025 season.  Stay crawfish are actually averaging $3.64 per pound and boiled crawfish at simply over $6 per pound. Seafood markets reported a 25-cent value drop this week, marking the second consecutive week of declining costs.

The beginning of April historically marks the guts of crawfish season, characterised by gentle climate, plentiful provide, and good-sized crawfish. This typical seasonal sample coincides with growing harvests from Louisiana’s crawfish farms, creating favorable circumstances for each producers and shoppers.

Todd Fontenot, crawfish knowledgeable with the LSU Ag Heart, notes that manufacturing has improved considerably. “Final yr, the costs have been off the charts as a result of there was no manufacturing. Hopefully, final yr was an outlier,” Fontenot mentioned, estimating that this yr’s season is seeing roughly 65% extra manufacturing than final yr.

The 2025 season represents a big enchancment over 2024’s traditionally poor harvest, when drought and unfavorable climate circumstances severely restricted provide. Final yr’s costs reached as excessive as $16.99 per pound in some New Orleans eating places, making crawfish prohibitively costly for a lot of conventional gatherings, particularly round Easter.

Agricultural consultants estimate that this yr’s manufacturing is roughly 65% larger than final yr, although nonetheless under what could be thought-about a standard season. Some lingering results from the 2023 drought that impacted the 2024 season should be affecting manufacturing ranges.

This yr’s Easter celebrations ought to see a lot better crawfish availability, with sack costs anticipated round $125, in comparison with final yr’s $225 per customary 30-35 pound sack. The nice and cozy climate Louisiana has been experiencing is more likely to profit the rest of the season, probably leading to bigger crawfish because the elevated temperatures make them extra energetic and vulnerable to molting, which facilitates development.

Whereas farmers report various success charges throughout completely different fields, the general business outlook is constructive for the rest of the 2025 season, with ample provide and cheap costs anticipated by means of the spring.

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award-winning outside journalist who resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outside column for the Slidell Unbiased Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Outside Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith e-mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com