BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) — Springtime crawfish boils are going to put a noticeably bigger dent in your pocketbook than in recent years, according to one study.
The Crawfish App, which compares prices for boiled and raw crawfish throughout Louisiana, reports that prices for the yummy mudbugs are higher than they’ve been in years.
“Crawfish prices are HIGH right now,” said Laney King, co-founder of the Crawfish App. “The average crawfish prices per pound in Louisiana this weekend are $7.55/lb. boiled and $5.67/lb. live. To put into perspective, this same weekend in 2022, the average live crawfish price was $3.88/lb. Add the additional almost $2/lb. to that this year and you’re looking at $200 for one sack of crawfish to boil this weekend.”
King said the Crawfish App averages pricing data from over 1,600 crawfish businesses to get average prices each weekend. While higher prices in January are not atypical, a look back at the last few years is telling. In 2020, the average live crawfish price this same weekend was $4.39/lb., in 2021 it was $5.12/lb. and 2022 it was $3.88/lb.
King said while prices are high, crawfish can still be found.
“The good news is that there are already hundreds of crawfish businesses throughout Louisiana selling crawfish this weekend,” he said.
Freezing December temperatures, current cold snaps, and low supply are some of the reasons cited by crawfish farmers, but King said crawfish retailers want their customers to know that the high prices are not in their control.
“They are simply paying what the docks and farmers are charging them with a slight markup to stay in business,” King said.
The Crawfish App, which compares prices for both boiled and live crawfish, can be downloaded at app stores and at www.thecrawfishapp.com.
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