At the peak harvesting season for crawfish, a shortage of migrant workers to peel them is hurting the Louisiana industry, largely because of a fight over foreign guest workers that has stirred fears Chinese imports will gain ground.
As Reuters reports, Louisiana officials have estimated the worker shortfall will cut the state’s frozen crawfish output by more than half—at a cost of up to $50 million—largely as the result of a long conflict over rules and wages for seasonal laborers under the H-2B visa program.
Louisiana’s crawfish processors, who lead the United States in output of shellfish, are hurting badly, says Frank Randol. His Lafayette plant, for example, would normally have 40 workers peeling thousands of bite-sized crawfish tails everyday, but now stands idle.
“We finally stabilized our industry,” Randol says, referring to a period of recovery after a tariff on cheaper Chinese imports was imposed 18 years ago. “And now this chops the legs out from under us.”
In southern Louisiana, hopes are fading that the annual output of peeled, frozen tail meat can be salvaged this year.
Kevin Dartez, whose Abbeville facility peels and sells both crawfish and crabs, says losing his guest labor will mean heavy financial losses. He refuses to bring on unauthorized immigrants and has found locals largely unwilling to take on such tedious unskilled work.
“The crawfish season is screwed,” he says. “The crabs aren’t getting peeled either.”
Critics of Louisiana’s crawfish processors, and of businesses relying on H-2B laborers generally, say many exploit a largely powerless migrant workforce, and that legal and legislative challenges to Obama administration efforts to make the program more worker-friendly have slowed the application process.
