A half bucket of crawfish -- around two dozen mudbugs with corn and potatoes -- is selling for $11.95 at Ragin Cajun on Richmond.
Crawfish prices are hitting new records this year with some restaurants charging as much as $5.50 a pound for boiled crawfish. Two pounds for $10, once an unthinkable amount to pay for mudbugs, is now average.
Crawfish farmers point to the $4 a gallon price of diesel fuel as the cause of the price hike. Diesel is used in the water pumps on crawfish farms as well as in the trucks that bring live crawfish to market.
Seafood dealers also point out that demand is always highest at the beginning of the season and during Lent, peaking on Good Friday. Because Easter came early this year, the wholesale price of crawfish is predicted to come down in April as supply swells and demand slackens. But a continued supply of crawfish also depends on heavy Spring rainfalls. – Robb Walsh
