Snow, sleet and freezing temperatures have put the Louisiana crawfish season in the freezer. The arctic weather affecting the heart of the Bayou state means crawfish aren’t eating and likely to be smaller than normal at peak season.
Thousands of red and blue claws should be poking out of green, mesh sacks at the crawfish farms of Joey Schneider and Lindsey “Red” Aucoin in Eunice, but instead their ponds remain idle.
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When it snows three times in two weeks you know you have a problem,” said Eunice crawfish farmer Joey Schneider while checking a test trap. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
“It’s terrible, there are very few crawfish being caught, said Aucoin, who partners with Schneider in the crawfish business. “With this cold weather the crawfish are not moving around, and not biting. So far this year we have caught less than 10% of what we did this time last year.”
Last year Eunice area ponds were already producing more than 200 pounds of crawfish per acre – a good yield for the time of year. But the cold weather has caused breeding ponds to be coated with ice, and according to Aucoin, “the water has been so cold so long, and frozen so often, that even the mud is freezing.”
“When it snows three times in two weeks you know you have a problem,” said Schneider. “We’ve had thick ice on a lot of our ponds. Those that are trying to harvest are only bringing in a sack of crawfish for every 100 acres.”