ST. MARTIN PARISH — As crawfish season enters its final stretch in Louisiana, farmers and restaurant owners are reflecting on a year they say played out differently than expected, with shifting catches, unpredictable weather and mixed results across the industry.
Brant Lamm, crawfish farmer and owner of the restaurant Louisiana Crawfish Time, said this season broke from the usual balance between supply and demand.
“Normally when the catch is bad, we caught good. When the demand was higher we didn’t really have enough. So it’s been a very unique year,” Lamm said.
He said the season shifted again later on as rainfall moved into the region, boosting catches after a slower start than expected.
“I thought the catch would be over by now with the way it was going, but then when we started catching the rain all of a sudden. The catch just shot up, and we had more than we needed for the last several weeks,” Lamm said.
At Crazy ‘Bout Crawfish, restaurant owner Megan Buckner said she is hoping the season can stretch a little longer.
"I'm hoping to make it to July 4th, but no one will guarantee me," Buckner said. "We’re looking at more talk about Father's Day, which is the end of June instead of the beginning of July,” Buckner said.
She said being located just off Interstate 10 in Breaux Bridge has helped keep business steady throughout the season by drawing in travelers and visitors passing through the area who may not be as familiar with local crawfish pricing or sizing.
“They don’t know what big is. They don’t know what small is. They don’t know what the average price is, so they’re willing to pay that amount of money in November and December for boiled crawfish,” Buckner said.
Lamm said despite continued harvesting, the restaurant side of his operation will soon wind down, noting that keeping it open beyond peak season is not financially sustainable even if crawfish remain available.
“We’ll keep fishing as long as we can sell them to somebody, but for the restaurant, Father’s Day is going to be the last weekend,” Lamm said.
