Louisiana congressional delegation asking for federal relief to help crawfish industry

Louisiana’s congressional delegation sent a letter April 8 asking U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to assist the crawfish industry through the CARES Act.

As previously reported in Daily Report, the closure of restaurant dining rooms has impacted the crawfish industry at the peak of its season. About two-thirds of the state’s crawfish harvesting is done from March through May.

In the letter, the delegation says many producers have seen prices plummet more than $1 per pound and will face losses of more than $400 per acre on average by the season’s end. Ultimately, the industry faces a roughly 60% loss in market value during the peak of the season.

“The crawfish industry provides more than $305 million to Louisiana’s economy and, although the industry is mostly concentrated in our state, Louisiana crawfish farmers provide crawfish to restaurants and Americans for consumption all across the country,” the letter reads. “Without assistance, the short-term losses caused directly by the coronavirus could lead to permanent loss of markets and impact the long-term health of the industry. We urge you to give strong consideration to the U.S. crawfish industry for assistance under the CARES Act.”

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the LSU AgCenter are working to further quantify the impact of these losses, according to the letter.

As far as retail prices go, live and boiled crawfish were lower than they have been in recent years heading into the Easter weekend last weekend. Prices for boiled crawfish in Baton Rouge started at $2.19 per pound, according to The Crawfish App, with prices for live crawfish starting at $1.25. Live crawfish were 28% cheaper than they were last year for Easter weekend, while boiled crawfish prices have dropped around 37%.

This story originally appeared in Daily Report‘s April 9 edition. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.