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Results from a survey of crawfish producers show that decreased demand for their product is resulting in lost income of about $500 an acre and a season that could end about 40 days sooner than usual in some cases.
“When you look at all those things, it’s a pretty impactful scenario for producers,” said LSU AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry, who compiled the survey results.
A total of 67 producers responded to the survey, representing more than 10% of the total estimated crawfish acres in the state, Guidry said.
The survey was conducted at the request of the Louisiana Farm Bureau and crawfish producers to make the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Louisiana congressional delegation aware of the problems facing the industry.
Demand for crawfish has decreased as restaurants face restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown hit when crawfish season was in full swing — and when producers make most of their income.
“It happened at the absolute worst possible time,” Guidry said.
The survey results could result in government assistance.
“It’s in the hands of the policymakers,” he said. “This is the first step to make sure policymakers are aware of the issues.”
The survey only addresses farm-raised crawfish and not the wild crawfish caught in the Atchafalaya Basin. Other faculty in the AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant are currently examining the economic impact to wild-caught crawfish fishermen.
Based on survey results, the average projected decline in wholesale prices for the entire production season is about 55 cents below the previous three-year average. For some producers, the drop in price has resulted in prices falling below their break-even point.
Harvesting has been curtailed, and buyers are limiting how much they will buy from producers.
“On average, producers are harvesting more than two days fewer per week,” Guidry said.
In addition to the decreased harvest and lower prices, producers who hired foreign labor to bring in the catch are contractually obligated to pay those workers for a guaranteed amount for a full season’s work.
“It’s basically an expense some are having to pay without having a way to generate any income,” Guidry said.
The average starting date of the season for producers surveyed was in late December as usual. Producers indicated their season would usually end by mid-June, but the survey showed that, on average, producers felt their season could end by the first week of May this year because of either below-breakeven prices or a lack of available market outlets.
For many rice farmers, crawfish has been a way to fill the economic gap created by low rice prices.
“For a lot of producers, they rely heavily on crawfish,” Guidry said.
Some individuals who responded to the survey reported that this was their first year to harvest crawfish, and they had invested substantially to buy harvesting equipment.
Some crawfish producers have drained their fields because they were unable to sell their harvest at a profit, Guidry said.
Mark Shirley, AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant crawfish specialist, said draining a pond that is overpopulated could be done quickly to reduce the population. A field that is not overpopulated should be drained slowly over two to three weeks to allow the crawfish to burrow so they can reproduce for the next season.
Restocking crawfish in early planted rice fields can be done in May.
Shirley said he has found a few fields with the white spot virus.
“I don’t know if it’s 10%, 20% or just 5%, but it’s out there in a lot of the ponds,” he said.
There is no cure for the disease, and it returns the following year in some fields, but not all.
AgCenter scientists are currently sampling ponds to determine how widespread the white spot virus is and what conditions trigger some of the crawfish to die in the pond.
“Fortunately, the white spot virus only affects crustaceans and not humans or other animals,” Shirley said.
Jeff Durand, who farms with his brothers in St. Martin Parish, said they have drained some fields because of the limited market.
“We would have gone another month or two in those fields,” he said.
Durand said they are only harvesting three days a week.
The Durands lost several big orders, and the restaurant business has decreased considerably.
The peeler market also is down. But the drive-through boiling businesses are buying.
“We’re lucky to be moving some crawfish,” Durand said.
Paul Zaunbrecher, who farms with his brothers in Acadia Parish, said their business is surviving because they have a large grader that allows them to cull large crawfish.
“We’re not suffering as bad as most people. We’ve got some good buyers,” he said.
Zaunbrecher said the market has increased significantly with more acreage and more people in the crawfish business.
“A lot of our markets just dried up,” said Alan Lawson, who farms with his father in Acadia Parish.
He harvests crawfish from their rice ponds, and he buys crawfish to be peeled.
Lawson said he’s had no choice but to peel a large amount of big crawfish.
“We’ve had some pretty good sales with the tail meat,” he said.
Lawson said he has had to reduce the amount he buys from other farmers because markets have disappeared or declined, and he suspects many farmers stopped harvesting crawfish.
He also has a whole-boiled operation to freeze boiled crawfish.
“The whole-cooked market just went away. We had hundreds of thousands of pounds that would have been sold,” Lawson said.
He said crawfish businesses like his won’t be able to take advantage of the federal payroll protection program because the workers are foreign.
When the economy emerges from hibernation, the crawfish industry won’t make a quick recovery because it is a seasonal business that peaked when the coronavirus shutdown occurred.
Lawson is trying to stay positive.
“We’re all just going to make the best of it like we always do,” he said.

By JEREMY ALFORD
A task force created by the Senate president and House speaker will soon convene a series of meetings with virtual and in-person elements to help guide the Legislature as it tackles issues related to COVID-19 in its upcoming sessions.
With lawmakers currently hunkering down in their respective districts during Louisiana’s stay-at-home order, the task force could emerge as the temporary policy body to watch, bringing to mind the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which was created in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita to oversee spending and prioritize needs.
Lawmakers may not remain hunkered down for long, however, with anticipation building for an early May return to the Capitol.
It was announced last week that the Louisiana Legislative Advisory Task Force on Economic Recovery will present its recommendations to the House and Senate by July 1, but some members are pushing to get something on paper sooner.
The urgency is being fueled by the ongoing regular session, which is scheduled for a June 1 adjournment.
The task force, meanwhile, will have its initial organizational meeting on Thursday.
“Our first phase will have to be done pretty quickly,” said Task Force Chairman Jason DeCuir of Ryan, an international tax services firm.
As reported recently in LaPolitics Weekly, many lawmakers envision 2020 hosting three sessions, including the ongoing regular session, a follow-up special session to address budgetary and health care needs, and another special session, possibly in the fall, that will carry an economic development banner.
While short- and long-term policy recommendations will be born from the legislative task force, which is heavy on representation from business and industry, Gov. John Bel Edwards has also created an administration-backed commission called Resilient Louisiana.
That commission has been “charged with examining Louisiana’s economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic and making recommendations for more resilient business-related activities and commerce in the coming months.”
It is being co-chaired by Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson and Terrie Sterling, a consultant and former executive with the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System.
Pierson told Business Report’s Stephanie Riegel this week that he was unaware the Legislature’s leadership was creating its own task force and suggested that there won’t be a duplication of efforts.
To be sure, the two groups will likely focus on different priorities.
The administration’s commission counts two current legislators as members, as appointed by the Senate president and House speaker, including Sen. Ronnie Johns of Lake Charles and Rep. Paula Davis of Baton Rouge.
The legislative task force, by comparison, includes the chairmen of all of the key budget and tax committees, including Central Sen. Bodi White of the Senate Finance Committee, Houma Rep. Jerome Zeringue of the House Appropriations Committee, Franklin Sen. Bret Allain of the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee and Lafayette Rep. Stuart Bishop of the House Ways and Means Committee.
All of the lawmakers listed in the above paragraph are both white and Republican, and there are no Democratic or black legislators on either panel.
On social media and the blogosphere, pundits and pontificators have been quick to point out that the commission was crafted by Edwards’ Democratic administration and the task force was forged by the Republican leadership in the Legislature.
Those reads of the panels, though, are only from the surface. Put a better way, the governor’s commission is pro-Edwards and the Legislature’s task force is undeniably pro-business, with a touch of overlap here and there.
That’s not to say these groups will allow politics to trump the seriousness of the situation at hand, but it’s also not difficult to guess what kind of recommendations are coming from each.
The legislative task force will likely explore corporate tax breaks and at some point at least discuss changes to the sales tax structure.
Such ideas will be a non-starter for many on the administration’s commission who believe business and industry need to pay their “fair share” in taxes, as Edwards preached ad nauseam last term.
In other words, there will be plenty to disagree about, but no one serving on these panels appear eager to create an environment of competition.
Alas, that’s where all of this might be headed unless care and caution take the wheel.
If the governor’s commission focuses on the pragmatic steps of opening Louisiana back up for normalcy (whatever that will mean) and the legislative task force focuses on what will inevitably be business-friendly policy suggestions, then the Legislature can step up in the coming months to sort out the rest in concert with the administration.
Otherwise, this will all lead to politics as usual, which would be yet another virus on this great state.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www. LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow

A pair of Louisiana Tech students have been selected to compete in “Ignite the Night,” a virtual event Wednesday by NASA’s iTech team that invites innovators and enthusiasts to meet NASA, learn more about its iTech program, and present an idea on stage to an esteemed panel of NASA’s Center Chief Technologists, industry experts and investors.
The Tech pitch is one of only 10 finalists selected.
Louisiana Tech’s AJ McFarland and Chris Miller recently developed antimicrobial/antiviral medical textile that can be used for filtration of the air as well as used in N95 masks; these masks are what medical staffs are wearing to protect them from Covid-19. Miller will make the actual presentation.
Tech submitted a proposal and was chosen to be part of the competition that NASA designed to create another opportunity for the agency to connect with innovators and enthusiasts directly. For Tech, this represents a public forum where significant research being conducted by investigators can receive national attention.
Both McFarland and Miller are Texas natives, research students, and doctoral candidates in molecular science and nanotechnology in Tech’s BioMorph Lab directed by professor David Mills.
Miller is director of research for Mills’ business enterprise, organicNANO.
“We are very much honored,” Mills said, “to be among the first 10 companies to be involved in this pitch competition.”
One pitch of the 10 will be selected to move on to the final competition.
You can watch Miller’s presentation Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. at https://livestream.com/nasait ech.
Miller participated in an orientation, interview and training session with NASA, and was both motivated and encouraged by the dialogue with Dr. Ramona Travis, the Chief Technologist for the NASA Stennis Space Center, as well as the interaction with several other NASA staff members, entrepreneurs and fellow competitors.
“My family, friends and love for science inspire me discover a world where positive change can come from anywhere and at any time,” Miller said. “I would like to thank all of those who have encouraged me to continue pursing my passion of changing the way we live.”
At this winter’s Won in One idea pitch competition presented by the Louisiana Tech Univ-ersity’s Technology Business Development Center, McFarland won first place for Organic Nano, an antimicrobial filament for 3D printing. Miller won both third place and People’s Choice for Hemosite Hemostatic Gauze, a metalized Halloysite nanotube used to enhance wound healing, prevent infection, and regenerate different tissues more efficiently.
NASA iTech identifies and searches for cutting-edge technologies being developed outside of NASA that solve problems here on Earth but also have the potential to address the challenges facing exploration of the Moon and Mars.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Multi-platinum and country music artist Sammy Kershaw has delivered his first music video in more than seven years, according to a news release.
CMT Music and CMT.com exclusively debuted the official music video for “My Friend Fred.” The new tune tells the harrowing, true-life story of the journey one man took to lose everything in his life, including his family and friends, to drug addiction.
“I really related to the story of Fred the very first time I heard the song because I’ve seen first-hand how methamphetamines, heroin, opioids, alcohol and other terrible addictions have destroyed way too many precious lives, families and really great people,” said Kershaw.
Written by Billy Lawson and Ed Hill, the song was co-produced by Lawson and Kershaw and recorded at the iconic Wishbone Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
“A lot of times we just kind of ignore or throw people like this away,” said Kershaw. “I really believe that if we took the time to help them a little bit more and really show that we love them and that their life really does mean something, it might help the process of them finally getting rid of this terrible addiction. We all know a Fred.”
The newly-released song is now available worldwide, via Sony/The Orchard, and can be viewed at www.cmt.com/video-clips/96p2dl/music-videos-sammy-kershaw-my-friend-fred or downloaded/streamed at https://orcd.co/sammyke rshaw.
Kershaw debuted on the music scene in the early ‘90s. His focus is reclaiming the roots of country music and recapturing the spirit that made it great. Often referred to as the heir apparent to the legendary George Jones, Kershaw’s albums have included such classics as “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful,” “I Can’t Reach Her Anymore,” “National Working Woman’s Holiday” and “Love of My Life.”
The Grammy-nominated artist has six gold and five platinum albums.
For additional information on Kershaw, visit sammykershaw.com.