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MUDBUG MARKET MELLOWS
Prices for crawfish drop as industry shows signs of improvement
By JAY HUGHES, SUN HERALD

PASCAGOULA --
So far, this year's crawfish season has been a little less "aiyeee" and a little more "oooh, boy," but that appears to be changing.

Weather limited early supply and production costs are up, two factors that have combined to boost prices on the unattractive, but tasty, Gulf Coast delicacy in a season that started a couple of weeks earlier than usual. The market has changed in recent days, prompting Keith Delcambre of Bozo's, the main mudbug retailer in Pascagoula, to sum it up this way: "It's real screwy right now."

Among the cost factors driving prices is the spiking cost of gas, a major agricultural expense often unthought of except by farmers and those who distribute their products.

"I think it will end up being a good season, but not as good as previous years just due to fuel prices," said Todd Rosette, manager of Quality Seafood Market in Biloxi. "Fuel plays a big role in everything we do."

Stephen Minvielle, who raises 80 acres of crawfish near New Iberia, La., said overall production prices are up 30 to 34 percent above last year. Farmers have cut their prices to wholesalers by up to 50 percent, he said, adding that he hopes those reductions trickle down to consumers.

Prices for cooked crawfish started at between $3.50 and almost $4 a pound at many Coast retailers, but have dropped to below $3 in recent days. Prices for live mudbugs also have dropped and Rosette said his live prices could go as low as $1.39 before the season's over, but he doesn't expect to see .99-cent live prices as in years past.

Delcambre said prices have made choices necessary for consumers, especially in the early going. For instance, this year's Pascagoula Mardi Gras parade fell on the same weekend as the Super Bowl - traditionally two of Bozo's biggest crawfish-selling events.

"This year crawfish were so high, they (consumers) had to choose whether to do it on Saturday or Sunday," he said.

However, there is hope for the rest of the season. Minvielle, director of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association, said drought in north Louisiana knocked down the early supply, leaving the state's southern suppliers struggling to attempt to fill a demand that was higher than their capacity at moderate prices.

With warming weather, timely rain and more moderate days, he said, the industry is beginning to catch up.

"They're just starting to show, in the last two weeks, a little bit of promise," he said late last week.

Most of the crawfish making it to market right now, Minvielle said, are in the medium No. 4-5 range. A crawfish can grow from "ant" size to the favored large sizes in less than one season, given stable and moderate weather that allows them to shed their exoskeleton and grow every other week.

"Everybody wants them, and if I had some magic dust to make that happen, I'd make a killing," Minvielle said. "We need some sunshine, Mother Nature!"

Delcambre estimated his early sales were off by 30 to 50 percent, but even with supply going up and prices going down, he doesn't think sales will equal last year's. He said he'd like to see prices continue to drop to more reasonable levels, not just for sales but so Coast residents can spend more time enjoying a food he described as more a traditional event than a meal.

"To me, that's what crawfish is all about, getting your buddies together."