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Gannett
News Sevice - April 27, 2003
LAWTELL — Farmer Duane
Smith rates the 2003 crawfish catch as the best he has
seen in the last three years. “It has not been the
best on prices, but the best on quality and quantity
for me,” he said. “If crawfish are big, it really
helps with selling them.”
This is the best season in the last 10 years for most
farmers, said Mark Shirley, regional aquaculture
specialist with the LSU AgCenter in Abbeville.
With April being the height of the season, Shirley
said crawfish average 80 cents per pound, but can run
as low as 60 cents in some places. The price for
crawfish depends on the size and weight of the
crawfish.
The bigger the crawfish, the more expensive they are,
Shirley said.
The lower price for crawfish means more hours for the
workers at Duane’s Crawfish Farm.
Good crawfish production is helping farmers this
season to offset the low prices experienced with rice,
Shirley said. Shirley oversees the production of
crawfish in Vermilion, St. Landry, Acadia and
Evangeline parishes. At the Lawtell farm, about 600 to
1,000 sacks of crawfish are processed daily.
Smith not only has a crawfish pond, but he also
processes and distributes the crawfish at his
1,000-acre farm east of Lawtell.
“Some of our product is brought to New Orleans, but
the majority is shipped to Mississippi. We also cater
them,” Smith said. He has been in the crawfish
business since 1983.
Smith is not the only crawfish farmer who is
prospering this year. The 2002-03 crawfish crop has
been good for most farmers in the area, Shirley said.
“This has been a big volume year for most farmers,” he
said.
The season usually ends in May, but this year farmers
plan to continue to harvest crawfish until June. April
is the height of the season.
“We had plenty of rain during last summer, and in the
fall and winter. That helped in the natural production
cycle to generate a lot of crawfish and to help grow
them,” Shirley said.
Farmers start harvesting in November and December.
“Ponds have produced well since early in the season
and are continuing to do well. We will have a good
supply through May and into June,” Shirley said. He
said he is not sure what next season will be like. “If
rain fall continues next year. It should be just as
good,” he said.
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