Louisiana crawfish industry is experiencing a shortage; residents hope Gov. Landry disaster declaration helps

Sudan Britton
·2 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Crawfish is a huge part of Louisiana’s culture and with Easter approaching your chances of finding these mudbugs are low.

“Uh, it’s a delegacy in Louisiana. We love crawfish. We love the little mudbugs. They are awesome, they taste great. They’re delicious, um, they are just not here right now,” Mia Leger, Sales, Chez Francois Seafood said.

Congressman Troy Carter Sr. partnered with the U.S. Small Business Administration to host workshops and seminars for crawfishers in Louisiana. It also provided an opportunity for business owners in need of financial assistance.

“We wanted to let the public know those who are being impacted that SBA is working to do whatever we can to assist them,” Jo Lawrence, Deputy District Director, U.S. Small Business Administration said.

Drought pinched Louisiana’s crawfish harvest, but mudbug fans are weathering the shortage

Lawrence said they assist in technical support like funding programs, disaster recovery, resource partnerships, business guidance, federal contracting and more. She said to take advantage of these resources.

“We’re encouraging them to reach out to our resource partners, like our Small Business Development Center, our Women’s Business Resource Center, our score mentors and our Veterans Business Outreach Center,” Lawrence said.

Leger was born and raised in the crawfish business. Her family owns a restaurant in Lafayette, Chez Francois Seafood. She says the weather conditions have affected their seafood. She hopes the disaster declaration Gov. Jeff Landry signed provides relief statewide.

“Summer, the excessive heat and the drought really has affected our crawfish. Um, they’re not getting enough time to reproduce, and we are in the middle of Lent, so it is the worst time to have no crawfish,” Leger said.

Leger said finding or catching crawfish is a constant fight. Congressman Carter and SBA shared they empathize and understand the struggle.

“We feel their pain. We know that this is a difficult time for them, and that Congressman Carter is behind them as well as the Small Business Administration,” Lawrence said.

Leger went on to say she will take everything she’s learned and apply it to her family’s business.

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“The Small Business Administration seems to be great. Uh, they want to help, congressman wants to help,” said Leger.

U.S. Small Business Administration will be in Marrero for the next workshop from 9-11 a.m. March 26.

Lawrence told BRProud if the disaster declaration is passed, they will focus on helping people with the application process.

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