Crawfish prices drop to lowest they’ve been this season

METAIRIE, LA (WVUE) - Some people will rush to buy crawfish this weekend because prices are finally falling, but businesses worry high demand will drive prices back up.

Phones rang off the hook at a Metairie seafood shop, as crawfish prices dropped to the lowest they've been so far.

"Last Friday, it was $5.19 a pound, and then it dropped Monday and it was $3.99 Tuesday," Dennis' Seafood Owner, Denny Lacoste said.

Lacoste said a drop of more than a dollar is a lot.

"Usually it's 25 cents, 50 cents," Lacoste said.

Lacoste said prices were high in past weeks because the supply of crawfish has been low, but that changed this week.

“They had a lot of crawfish, so the price dropped,” said Lacoste, “They just started biting, and the weather. Few days of the warm weather.”

That's why business has been booming.

"Very busy. Everybody wants crawfish. People don't want to pay more than $4.50 a pound for boiled crawfish," Lacoste said.

"We bought 12 pounds today. It's only going to be three of us. So, we're looking forward to enjoying some," Westfield said.

"They're starting to get back in season, so I just wanted to come pick up like two pounds just for myself to eat like for lunch," Gabrielle O'Dwyer said.

Demand has been so high that Lacoste said they sold out of live crawfish.

"Just cause I couldn't buy enough. I mean, I've got six dealers, and they couldn't bring me what I needed," Lacoste said.

Lacoste said they’ve been a good size as well.

"Very beautiful. Crawfish have been real nice. Even when they were high, they've been nice the whole season so far," Lacoste said.

People are enjoying the crawfish, and these prices while they last.

"The craving's there, the prices have gone down, it's what we're looking forward to," Westfield said.

"I think last time I got them I paid $5.99 for them, and this is like $3.99 now. So it's just a significant difference, and so I was ready to get two pounds," O'Dwyer said.

"But we don't know what's going to happen for this weekend, cause now they're scarce again. they just quit biting," Lacoste said.

Lacoste said this has been the busiest week because of Valentine's Day, and the start of Carnival Season.

Because the crawfish aren’t biting now, he has to take less orders.

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