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Dr. Greg Lutz, an aquaculture specialist with the LSU AgCenter, says high water now can spoil next year's crawfish harvest.
"They've evolved over millions and millions of years to a pretty stable cycle of wet and dry conditions, and when things get wet too early, it tends to disrupt things."
Lutz says Isaac struck the area just as many female crawfish were laying eggs in their burrows. He says most of them will stay with their eggs but some will respond by emerging early and those crawfish could be lost.
"It's the ones that got forced out that we may lose. And, every crawfish that we lose could translate into several pounds, maybe even a half-sack of crawfish, later on in the season, so that's a problem," Lutz says.
Crawfish farmers are also dependent on forage crops that feed the crawfish as they emerge. Lutz says some crops, like green rice, can tolerate the high water but others can't.
Lutz says there's very little farmers can do now but wait and hope.
