Louisiana Crawfish Season in Jeopardy Because of ‘Red Tape’

(KMDL-FM) Today is Friday. It is during the Lenten Season. For the Louisiana faithful, that usually means a stop at their favorite crawfish place for a few pounds of steamed or boiled crawfish. That is, unless you have the boiling rig at home and are going to boil them yourself.

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The crawfish industry is an enigma wrapped in mystery sometimes. I honestly don't see how our Louisiana farm families survive the constant threats from Mother Nature, natural predators, invasive species, and perhaps the biggest threat to agriculture in Louisiana and the country, government intervention.

As it looks right now, Louisiana is on the cusp of a very good crawfish season. That is based on the current weather conditions, weather forecasts, and the supply outlook. Where the season could go off the rails is in a different swamp. Nope, it's not the Henderson Swamp or the Atchafalaya Basin that could corrupt our crawfish season. It's the swamp inside the beltway known as Washington DC.

As you know, immigration and the problem of illegal immigrants are important topics for our nation. However, the desire to control that situation is putting Louisiana crawfish farmers and processors in quite a pickle.

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How Are Government Regulations Causing Problems for Louisiana Crawfish Farmers?

Louisiana's Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr. Mike Strain, has told media outlets that three-quarters of the processing plants in the state have not received any foreign workers. The reason for the lack of hired help is the H-2B visa restrictions.

According to Dr. Strain, 15 of the 20 processing plants in the state do not have the workers they need to produce the volume of products they need to stay solvent. We should note that the crawfish processors that Dr. Strain is speaking of have relied on immigrant and seasonal labor for decades.

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While some people may have a less-than-favorable view of seasonal migrant workers, they are vital in Louisiana agriculture. They do the jobs that can't be filled. And in the case of Louisiana's crawfish industry, they do the jobs that keep the industry afloat.

If there is no solution reached over the immigration issue, producers might be forced to ship their harvest south of the border for peeling and then have them shipped back for sales. I think you know what kind of effect that action would have on the price of your crawfish, right?

Let's hope we can get this situation worked out for the betterment of all concerned. And so I won't have to mortgage my house for some crawfish.