The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved emergency financial relief for struggling crawfish farmers and fisherman for a 2024 harvest that is down 50-90% across Louisiana, according to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. However, the cash might not be enough to save next year's season.
"Some ponds never came into production because of the lack of crawfish or the inability to flood the ponds due to surface water issues," the Ag Center's Kenneth Gautreaux said in a video. "Some farmers feel that they were fortunate to catch what they could." The state only saw 44% of its normal rainfall from May-October 2023, and the average high was 3 degrees warmer than average.