What??? No crawfish?

[GalvestonDuck]

Apparently, crawfish season usually begins in mid- to late-December (having only lived here seven years, I had to ask). However, I just found out tonight that Benno's on the Beach in Galveston doesn't have any yet...and they're not sure when they will be available. They said they were told the beginning of the year would be the first delivery. Then it was pushed back a week. Then to this week. But now they're being told February. I know there's usually tons of crawfish around here during Mardi Gras.

Cajun buddies -- Is it the same in Louisiana? No crawfish?

[Skywatch_NC]

Hmm...Katrina + Rita = messed up crawfish "beds", too...?

Eric

[GalvestonDuck]

Hmm...Katrina + Rita = messed up crawfish "beds", too...?

Eric

See, I guess that's where I'm confused. Maybe I need to understand more about where/how crawfish actually live. There's no shortage of oysters (wish have been surprisingly large lately) or shrimp. Of course, I was a little wary of eating seafood after the draining of the "bowl" with all that mess and sludge in it anyway. Maybe that's why the oysters are so huge lately?

[MGC]

I saw an ad for crawfish today over here in MS. I don't think the hurricanes affected the prime crawfish raising regions in Louisiana. Hopefully there will be an abundant supply this year. Yummy......MGC

[CajunMama]

Rita messed up our rice fields big time. Live crawfish right now are over $3/pound. We need rain to help out the rice fields that were submerged in saltwater. Guess i won't be eating crawfish anytime soon.

[alicia-w]

http://www.crawfishcoofcentralflainc.com/Hurricane_Katrina_and_the_2006_Crawfish_Season.html

[alicia-w]

http://www.crawfishcoofcentralflainc.com/Hurricane_Katrina_and_the_2006_Crawfish_Season.html

Southern Louisiana carries the distinction of being the crawfish capital of the world. On August 26, 2005 Hurricane Katrina’s path came through the lower south east corner of Louisiana causing extensive property damage and flooding followed by Hurricane Rita that penetrated south west Louisiana.

In Jefferson Parish, Lake Pontchartrain, vibrant with shrimp and some of the regions finest blue crab has been tested and found to contain no harmful contaminants in the fisheries from the flooding. Crawfish are not harvested from Lake Pontchartrain, so there was little impact on crawfish supplies. The oyster beds have been found to be safe as well.

Louisiana red claw crawfish are found in agricultural ponds, swamps and marshes throughout the state, but the best wild populations occur in the overflow basins of the Atchafalaya, Red and Pearl rivers. These rivers were unaffected by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The other major source of Louisiana crawfish are the crawfish farms where crawfish are cultivated for local use and export to other states. Hurricane Rita did impact some of the coastal crawfish farms, but we still expect a favorable farm crawfish season for 2006. The pond crawfish season will start after Christmas, 2005. Normally the season starts as early as late November. Unfortunately Hurricane Rita caused brackish waters to infiltrate the bayou swamps. Also leaves and storm debris contaminated the bayous as well. The water in the bayous is naturally filtered. But before water from the bayou is used to fill crawfish ponds for the purpose of cultivation, it will be necessary to wait a few more weeks for natural filtration to take place, thus delaying the crawfish season.

The river crawfish season generally starts late March or early April and will not be affected by the weather events that Louisiana endured in 2005.

A major obstacle that has been overcome was the New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport. The airport was temporarily closed to commercial aviation due to ongoing disaster relief operations and the airport being down to one usable runway. The airport temporarily was housing five thousand recovery workers, primarily in the baggage claim areas. All the major airlines relocated their ground personnel and operations to other airports and cancelled the majority of flight operations in and out of New Orleans. The airport since reopened for commercial air service on Tuesday, September 13, 2005. The airport is now operating at near pre-Katrina operation levels. Delta Air Line’s has resumed a full flight with the majority of the airlines following similar levels of operations.

The last obstacle is the number of business’s that were located in New Orleans that are no longer open due to the mandatory evacuation or damage. Some of the business owners have returned to New Orleans, but some will relocate in different states or regions. Some have retired from the business entirely. Some will not be affected, such as the crawfish farm owners that specialize in farm raised crawfish or owners that survived the Hurricane with minimal damage or flooding. Thankfully, our company falls into the latter category.

Our company, the Crawfish Company of Central Florida reopened for business for seafood and Cajun food sales October 6, 2005. The Metairie Division has completed all cleanup and repairs. We are now restocked with all of our product lines. We have been looking forward to the new crawfish season starting after Christmas 2005 and are ready to start shipping our crawfish again nationally to all our customers.

A message to our customers; thank you for your support, concern and prayers. The Metairie Division is back!

Our award winning Cajun catering and event planning division based in Orlando, Florida was unaffected by the storms and continued to operate normally. Thank you to our corporate catering customers in Central Florida for their support in September, 2005. The Central Florida Cajun Catering Division offset the temporary shutdown of the Metairie Division. Again, thank you for your support and confidence in our company.

Hurricane Katrina and Rita will not stand in the way of the Gulf State residents rebuilding their lives, homes and businesses and coming back stronger than ever before. What has happened was temporary setback only.

America, we are back better than ever!

Rick Boyd
Vice President
Crawfish Co. of Central Fla., Inc.
http://www.crawfishcoofcentralflainc.com
http://www.turkeyfryrexpress.com
feboyd@crawfishcoofcentralflainc.com
14401 Flo Road
Orlando, Fla. 32832
(866) 384 9211 Toll Free

[alicia-w]

How To Cook Crawfish


Every year, folks in Southern Louisiana look forward with anticipation to the arrival of Springtime. That's when the crawfish season gets in full gear, and friends and family get together to enjoy this fantastic Cajun delicacy.

And whether you call them crawfish, crayfish, crawdads or mudbugs, you can enjoy this same treat wherever you are in the Continental US. Because we can deliver live Cajun crawfish to your door, and you can have your own Louisiana Crawfish Boil in your own backyard!

Just click Here to learn more.

Here is all the information you need to do your own Crawfish Boil.
The following recipe serves ten people (or two Cajuns)



Equipment Needed:
One Large Boiling Pot, Basket Insert and Lid*
Outdoor Propane Cooker*
Large Tub or Two Ice Chests

* Bayou Classic 30 Quart Outdoor Cooker is ideal for boiling crawfish.
It comes with a 30 Quart Pot, a vented lid, perforated rack, grab hook, 12" stainless thermometer. All you need is the propane tank.

It's really popular in these parts for cooking deep fried turkey.
But it's equally at home at a Crawfish Boil.
This versatile unit will cook about 10-15 lbs of crawfish per batch.
If you're cooking 30 lbs, just make a couple of batches.
Click Here to learn more about this cooker.



Ingredients Needed:
30 lbs of Live Crawfish (1 sack)
8 Small Onions
8 Small Potatoes
8 Ears of Corn
Fresh Garlic
Fresh Mushrooms
4 Lemons
3 lbs Fruge's Original Seafood Boil
Six Pack of Cold Beer
Click Here to return to the Crawfish category page.



Directions:
1. If you have not already done so, drink a cold beer.
2. After your beer, you would normally purge the crawfish. This is not necessary since our crawfish come pre-purged. Just rinse out the crawfish with fresh water and boil. If you want, use the time you saved by not purging the crawfish to have another beer.
3. Drink another beer. Give one to a friend.
4. Fill the large pot half full with fresh water, place on outdoor propane cooker, and start the fire. Place the lid on the pot and bring water to a boil.
5. Add about 1/3 lb of Fruge's Original Seafood Boil to water. Let the boiling water mix it well for a minute or so.
6. Time to drink another beer. Send sober friend to store for more beer.
7. Drop in the onions (halved), the potatoes and fresh garlic. Let this cook, keeping an eye on the potatoes. (Check for doneness by stabbing with a sharp knife or fork. If it goes in easy, it is cooked. Hint; Do not over cook potatoes, slightly under cook them because they will continue to steam and cook in ice chest. You don't want to end up with mashed potatoes.) When the potatoes are almost done, add the corn and mushrooms. After they have cooked, lower the fire on the burner and remove the basket. Place the vegetables in a small clean ice chest - don't close the lid - just place foil on top. Time to drink another beer.
8. Turn the heat up on the burner. Add more spice to the water. (About 1/2 lbs., save rest of spice for later.) Take the lemons (halved) and squeeze the juice in the water. Then add the lemons to the water. When the water comes to a boil place the crawfish into the basket and put the basket in the pot. (Be careful - it's very hot!) Put the lid on the pot and enjoy another beer.
9. When the water comes back to a boil - keep a very close eye on this part - let it boil for 4 minutes and turn off the fire. Let it soak for another 3 minutes and then remove. Kill the boil by adding cold water or ice, not much is needed maybe a gallon or so. Then let the crawfish soak. They will sink to the bottom and fill with spicy water (JUICES).
10. Get an old table and place old newspapers on top. Dump the basket of crawfish on top of the newspaper and sprinkle with leftover spice.
11. Dump the onions, potatoes, corn and garlic on top of the crawfish. Now it's time to really drink beer and eat. The vegetables are for those guests who cannot figure out how to peel the crawfish. At least they won't starve.



Tips:
1. To hold hot crawfish for a short time (1-2 hours), you can use a styrofoam ice chest. Most plastic chests will melt or warp.
2. Use leftover spice to experiment. You can always add more to the ice chest. Sprinkle it on, stir it up and let it steam in chest for 10 minutes. Then test again.

With credits to Fruges Aquafarms

[sunny]

lol - I can't find fresh shrimp either, Duckie. Yeah, the seafood industry has taken a BIG hit. For someone who loves shrimp as much as I do (I could eat it everyday), that ain't good news.

[cajungal]

No, we have crawfish that starting selling at the beginning of December. Almost all the local cajun restarants in Houma and Thibodaux are now serving them. I still have not had any yet, and I LOVE boiled crawfish with a passion. We usually wait until the prices go down. We usually get it during lent. But, hopefully I can get some for Mardi Gras.

[furluvcats]

Oh you guys are making me soooo homesick!!! We hosted SEVERAL "crawfish boils" and I miss those good times, with good friends...though I only ever ate 2 crawfish through my whole Louisiana experience, the "boils" were a HUGE part of our culture there and this is making me totally homesick!!!! Maybe I should be going back to Lousiana this next week, instead of FL. Reguardless, enjoy your crawfish when you get them!

Bon apetite!

[GalvestonDuck]

Alicia! Thanks for posting the informative articles!

I'll be patient...maybe they'll be here by Mardi Gras.

[Sean in New Orleans]

They are having a rough start, but, I've been buying them for over a month at The Crawfisk King in Kenner. They are expensive, though, at $4.99 a pound boiled, and they are still a little small. But, they are Louisiana crawfish, complete with the awesome juicy heads to suck!

[sunny]

http://www.nola.com

MUDBUG MISERY
Monday, January 23, 2006
By Greg Thomas
Business writer

For 50 years, Don's Seafood and Steakhouse in downtown Lafayette has specialized in crawfish dishes -- always featuring Louisiana crawfish. But this year, the menu is likely to get a bit slimmer.

Farmers, fishers and buyers say only about 20 percent of the state's crawfish crop survived the salty water brought inland by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and a drought in the Atchafalaya basin.

And Don's Seafood owner Ashby "Rocky" Landry Jr. said he refuses to put Chinese crawfish in his dishes. Never has, never will.

Crawfish lovers are unlikely to find the live Louisiana delicacy for less than $3 a pound wholesale in coming months. And processed crawfish meat, which is unlikely to show up at all, is likely to fetch $30 a pound.

The crawfish-starved consumer is at the end of a long list of people who will be affected by the scarcity of mudbugs. Without the extra income that crawfish brings to rice farmers, some may hang up their traps, agriculture experts say. And about 5,000 seasonal jobs are likely to be eliminated if the state's 15 to 20 crawfish-processing plants don't open. Additionally, an untold number of independent fishers who catch wild crawfish may see their crawfish income disappear this season.

"I've never seen it this bad," said David Savoy, past president of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association, who raises rice and crawfish about 30 miles northwest of Lafayette. He said his production in December was about one-third of, or 11,000 pounds below, his December 2004 harvest.

It's estimated that the majority of the 78 million pounds of crawfish produced last year came from the areas damaged by severe weather: Rita, Katrina and a drought in the south-central part of the state.

Louisiana, the largest producer of crawfish in North America, brings its crawfish to consumers in two ways. First is the licensed fishers who use traps, primarily in the Atchafalaya basin, who caught a total of 8.3 million pounds with a wholesale value of nearly $5 million in 2004. Second, the state's 1,226 farmers produce 69.5 million pounds of crawfish on 118,250 acres last year for a wholesale value of $41.7 million.


Nothing to eat

But this year, Hurricanes Rita's storm surge wiped out crawfish ponds and their symbiotic rice fields in Cameron and Vermilion parishes in the south.

"These areas were completely inundated with tidal surge," said farmer David la Cour. "It left aquatic life, fish, crabs and shrimp, destroying the seed crop."

Rice farmers often "seed" their rice fields with crawfish. In the summer months, when the rice is growing and the water table is lower, the crawfish burrow down to the water table. Female crawfish lay their eggs, and the hatchlings attach to the mother's tail. After farmers harvest the rice, they flood their fields. That's the sign for a female to dig to the surface and feed on the green shoots left from the harvested rice.

While crawfish can tolerate high salt content, the rice and grasses crawfish feed on can't. The salinity from the surge killed the short green shoots of harvested rice on which the crawfish would eat. Don Benoit, a crawfish farmer and buyer, said the salinity level in his fields was 8,500 to 9,000 parts per million, about five times what the vegetation needed to support crawfish can withstand.

"The LSU Agriculture Center has no experience with this kind of condition. We don't know what the parameters of this are, of how long it will take to get the salt out of the soil and irrigated. And our irrigation sources have salt in them," said la Cour, who farms 500 acres.

La Cour and others are concerned that the high salinity levels could last for years.

Farmers who weren't affected by the salty storm surge were nonetheless affected by the storm.

"The tidal surge stopped five miles from my property, but water quality is still our biggest problem," Savoy said. Salty rains and wind-driven leaves and other organic debris turned ponds black, killing the oxygen in the ponds that helps keep the rice shoots alive.


Big losses

The crawfish harvest is often the lagniappe that determines whether farmers end the year in the red or in the black, Savoy said.

"We've had the highest rice production in the history of this state," Savoy said, but prices are so low that farmers aren't making enough to pay the bills. "Without the crawfish, they may be dead in the water.

"I fear we'll see a big loss of farmers, as high as 80 percent," he said. "When they go out and get that (nonfarming) job, we could lose a generation of farmers. You'll have a rough time getting them back."

The live crawfish harvesting season by licensed fishers, which normally begins in March, is in jeopardy because drought conditions and low water levels have almost dried out the Atchafalaya basin.

If river waters don't rise, or if substantial rains don't fall this winter, the wild live crawfish season will also be very poor.

"It's just a double whammy this year," said Stephen Minvielle of Abbeville, chairman of the Louisiana Crawfish Promotion and Research Board, a state agency.

Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Bob Odom said he sees no financial relief for crawfish farmers and producers in state or federal relief packages to date, other than the tax breaks contained for businesses in the Gulf Recovery Act passed by Congress. But to take advantage of that assistance, Odom said, "you've got to make money, and they're not."

And unlike rice, crawfish is not an agricultural commodity, so farmers are not eligible for crop insurance. Many farmers and processors are demanding this insurance, which Odom supports.

"They're telling me $50 million in losses," Odom said. Crawfish aren't the agriculture industry's only problem. Pecans, cotton and livestock were also devastated in storm areas, even in northern sections of the state. Odom places the need for the state's agricultural economic relief at $1.5 billion to $2 billion.


Processing plants close

If the demand is met for live crawfish, crawfish are then sent to processing plants, where they are stripped down to their meat by hand. To date, none of the 15 to 20 processing plants in Louisiana have opened.

It takes 7 to 9 pounds of live crawfish to create one pound of peeled tail meat. Live crawfish are selling for about $3 a pound, twice what they were selling for in December 2004. That means processors have to pay at least $21 to buy enough to make a pound of peeled crawfish, not counting the processors' costs for labor or fuel. Think $30 or more for a pound of peeled tails -- something no consumer would pay in the local grocery, farmers and officials say.

"No processing plants are going to open at those prices," Minvielle said.

Some hold out hope that by the end of the summer, there may be enough mudbugs around for processing plants to crank up, but Savoy points out that prices would have to be in the 25 cent to 50 cent range to warrant that.

For now, Louisiana Restaurant Association Executive Director Tom Weatherly said, local restaurants are making do with frozen local tail meat that survived -- Landry is working his way through 25,000 pounds -- but admits that the local delicacy will be expensive and eventually disappear from local menus if the season is a total bust.

Minvielle said he believes that Chinese crawfish will take over a much larger share of restaurant customers.

"To tell you the truth, there's a lot of restaurants out there using Asian crawfish right now, but they just won't admit it," Minvielle said.

Landry is optimistic. He said crawfish farming in the northern part of Louisiana will help increase production by the end of the season.

But he also worries about how much frozen crawfish was lost in the New Orleans area during Katrina, and whether demand from the area will keep prices prohibitively high. Or will the reduction in restaurants, residents and tourists soften demand?

Landry said he believes packaged crawfish will be produced in the late season -- but price increases will certainly show up on the menu.

. . . . . . .


Greg Thomas can be reached at gthomas@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3399

[MGC]

Looks like a bleak crawfish season. At $3.00 a pound I'll be doing without crawfish. Another victim of the hurricanes.....MGC

[alicia-w]

no shortage of crawfish here! i had a crawfish poboy and crawfish bisque for lunch yesterday. the restaurant we went to uses only fresh crawfish....

[LSU2001]

Alicia-W, Ask the restaurant where they get their crawfish. I would be willing to bet that they are imported from China and are not fresh. I could be very wrong but I don't think that there are many processors outside of La.
Tim

[alicia-w]

They get them locally, not from China.