HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – Crawfish, which is a favorite to many in Mississippi, may be harder to get this year.

The extreme heat and drought in 2023 caused thousands of acres of basins to dry up, which caused many crawfish to die. With the recent freezing temperatures, new crawfish are growing at a slower pace.

Crawfish harvesting typically begins in late January, but experts said harvesting will be delayed until at least spring.

With such little supply, it’s harder for consumers to buy crawfish, and it’s more expensive.

“There’s very little crawfish available. I’ve talked to farmers who have run a thousand or more traps and are only catching maybe 20 pounds. Where in a normal time, this time of year, there’d be catching 20 sacks, and they’re only catching 20 pounds,” said Mark Shirley, Aquaculture and Coastal Resources specialist at LSU AgCenter.

“Normally, they start out in the $5.00, $6.00 a pound range is what we end up having to charge our customers. Middle of the season, they come on down to about the $3.00 a pound range. But right now, I’ve seen some places selling them for $11.00, $12.00, $13.00 a pound, and that’s that’s just that’s astronomical,” said Carrington Strickland, co-owner of Strick’s Barbeque in Hattiesburg.

According to the Crawfish App, which averages the price for more than 800 vendors, the current average price of boiled crawfish is $13.00 per pound. This time last year, the price was $6.04 per pound.