Louisiana crayfish harvest recovers from hurricanes
Source: Reuters
By Russell McCulley NEW ORLEANS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Louisiana's famed crayfish harvest is bouncing back two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the $40-million industry, state and industry officials said on Tuesday. A mild winter and heavy rainfall in southern Louisiana, where most crayfish are raised, could lead to a bumper crop of the tiny crustaceans, which look like miniature lobsters and are a staple of Cajun cooking across the country. Crayfish are harvested on farms or trapped in the state's swamps and wetlands. About 40 percent of Louisiana's crayfish production comes from the Atchafalaya basin, a 1.4 million-acre (566,600-hectare) stretch of forest and swamp west of New Orleans. Wetlands and crayfish farms were feared devastated by the saltwater carried ashore by Katrina and Rita in 2005. "We had some acreage that got impacted, especially by Hurricane Rita, and there was some question about how that would linger into crawfish season," said Greg Lutz, a Louisiana State University aquaculture specialist. "It looks like it's going to be a good crop," said Darrel Rivere, a food manufacturer from Paincourtville, Louisiana, and a Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board member. "We already have early water in the (Atchafalaya River) basin, so it looks like the basin is going to be vibrant this year," Rivere said. Mature crayfish usually start showing up in seafood stores by late January and are available well into late spring or early summer. Producers still worry that the scattering of residents from the largest crayfish market -- New Orleans -- may cut demand. Less than half of the city's pre-Katrina population of 460,000 has returned and there are far fewer tourists and conventioneers chowing down on crayfish po-boys and platters of etouffee. However, many of those who relocated due to Hurricane Katrina are introducing crayfish to new markets in other parts of the country, Lutz said. "We're hoping we can get a little momentum there and build on that," he said. "Crawfish is one of those products that tends to open the door to other Louisiana products, like seasoning."
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