Louisiana crawfish farmers are heading into the 2026 season with a general sense of optimism, according to Todd Fontenot, a crawfish expert with LSU’s AgCenter.
Despite scattered early-season production challenges, conditions point to a relatively “normal” year—so long as winter weather cooperates.
“We’re optimistic right now,” Fontenot tells Daily Report. “Mother Nature can always throw a curveball, but barring that, it looks like most ponds should have good production.”
Producers faced elevated expenses this fall as dry weather forced them to pump more water to flood their ponds. The good news, Fontenot says, is that this year’s dry spell was far less severe than the prolonged drought of 2023, which caused supplies to plummet and prices to soar.
Warmer-than-normal temperatures, meanwhile, led to decreased oxygen levels in some ponds, which led in turn to limited losses of young mudbugs.
But with rainfall returning and temperatures moderating, Fontenot says a good deal of young crawfish are now emerging, and he expects them to continue foraging and growing as winter approaches.
One area of concern is down south, where apple snails—an invasive species—continue to pose a threat. The snails compete with crawfish for oxygen and nutrients, and they can also clog traps, creating additional headaches for harvesters. Early reports suggest they “may be a bit more of a problem this year,” Fontenot says.
Overall, though, he expects a season roughly in line with last year’s strong crop.
“We’re looking forward to what looks like at least a normal year,” Fontenot says. “More normal than two years ago, for sure.”
When it comes to pricing, Fontenot is hesitant to speculate. Producers have in recent years seen their expenses rise sharply, but he cautions against assuming those inflated costs will be passed on directly to consumers.
“Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, the producers are burdened with the additional cost, and that usually amounts to reduced income,” Fontenot says. “It’s not always a 1-to-1 ratio. If your production costs go up, you can’t just say to the buyer, ‘I’m going up that same percentage.’ That burden often falls on the producer.”
