Crawfish supplies rebound after freeze, but mudbugs may have tough season
As Houston continues to work its way out of an icy grip, the crawfish that is so much a part of local dining traditions is also emerging from the big chill.
Last week’s historic freeze put a temporary dent in crawfish harvesting from producers in Southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana where crawfish ponds were iced over. That caused a supply disruption that, fortunately for Houston diners, came when there wasn’t high demand — restaurants were closed with power and water issues.
But as restaurants begin reopening for service, the beloved mudbug is also climbing back into the dining scene as crawfish boil season, which often begins with Lent, gears up.
“The catch was down, and the market was down last week. The take-home message is that all the freezing last week will not cause a problem with the supply of crawfish,” said Mark Shirley, a crawfish specialist with Louisiana State University’s Agriculture Center in Baton Rouge, La. “Go ahead and plan your crawfish boils.”
And restaurants that specialize in crawfish boils are doing just that.
Chance Comstock, owner of Orleans Seafood Kitchen in Katy, said demand remains high for crawfish. He sold out over the weekend.
“People were stuck inside, and now that it’s warming up, they’re ready to eat,” Comstock said. “We were fortunate. We had a lot of crawfish.”
Comstock’s purveyors from Louisiana and the Beaumont area assure him his supply will come through, a relief for the restaurateur.
The picture was not as rosy for Trong Nguyen, owner of the popular Crawfish & Noodles in Houston Chinatown. His supply was only about a third of what he traditionally gets over the weekend — a blow to the chef lauded for his Viet-Cajun style of crawfish that made him a James Beard Award finalist.
“We’re under a lot of pressure to get product for the demand. We’re doing the best we can,” Nguyen said, adding that his supply should return to normal this week, certainly by the weekend. “Customers get upset if we run out.”
Or if crawfish aren’t up to snuff. Over the weekend, some crawfish enthusiasts on Facebook grumbled about mushy mudbugs, a sign of an immature, smaller crawfish.
Last week’s freezing temperatures didn’t kill crawfish but robbed them of a week’s worth of growth.
“Crawfish are a coldblooded animal. In the cold, they get very lethargic,” said David Savoy, president of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association. “It stayed cold long enough to where they quit moving. They bury in the mud.”
Louisiana’s crawfish industry was already off to a slow start, said Savoy, who owns Dave’s Crawdads in Church Point, La. Last week’s freeze delayed harvesting, he said, adding that it will take four or five days of consistent sunshine and warmer temperatures for things to return to normal.
Louisiana has about 250,000 acres of crawfish production while Texas has about 10,000 acres, LSU’s Shirley said. “This week things will steadily improve. By next weekend, there will be a regular supply of crawfish to the market,” he said.
That’s good news for Chris Spradley, who has begun a Houston pop-up business called Crawfish Chris.
“I’m not worried about getting crawfish, but how much I can get. I want good quality that’s ready to be boiled,” he said. “It might put us a week behind to have bigger, hardier crawfish. You’re talking about a week less opportunity for crawfish to grow.”
Spradley, a former “MasterChef ” contestant, is planning on Crawfish Chris pop-ups this weekend: Friday at Star Sailor in the Heights, Saturday at Local Group Brewing north of downtown and Sunday at Bakfish Brewing Co. in Pearland.
Though crawfish enthusiasts may rejoice at the returning supply this week, last week’s freeze may spell trouble as crawfish season peaks during March and April and winds down in May.
Greg Lutz, a crawfish specialist with LSU’s AgCenter, said that last week’s temperatures also froze the vegetation in crawfish harvesting ponds (rice fields) that may cause a trickle down in how crawfish feed.
That vegetation might not be there later in the season, he said. “It’s hard to predict how bad the impact will be,” he said. “The later part of the season will not be better.”
How will this affect crawfish consumption?
There may not be as great as a supply later this season, and the price may be higher, Lutz suggested.
“Houston is a dedicated market,” he said. “Anyone in Houston who is looking for crawfish will be able to find crawfish. They may be a bit annoyed about the price. But we all know when you have some crawfish, you have to have crawfish.”