Crawfish season hits peak in Southeast Texas with bigger catches and lower prices

Southeast Texas crawfish season is reaching its peak just in time for Easter, with farmers reporting larger catches, improved size and lower prices, creating ideal conditions for both restaurants and families planning boils.

Farmers across the region say crawfish are finally reaching optimal size and availability after a slower start to the season, which began in December.

“This week, right here, is the Super Bowl of crawfish industry,” said Shane Chesson, owner of Texas Crawdaddy’s in Winnie.

Crawfish are not only growing larger but are also becoming more plentiful, leading to fuller harvests and increased supply.

“It looks like we’re having some really nice size crawfish,” Chesson said. “And across the board, these crawfish are finally starting to get a shell on them. And they’re steadily getting better and better and better each week in size and availability.”

The increase in supply is also bringing relief to restaurants that struggled earlier in the season to secure enough crawfish.

“In December we would be lucky to onboard four sacks a day,” said Frankie Randazzo, co-owner of Madison’s and Rikenjaks. “Now, it’s not uncommon for us to take on 100 sacks a day, more than that on the weekends.”

That surge in availability has driven prices down significantly. Crawfish is now being sold to restaurants for as low as $2.50 per pound, compared to around $8 per pound in December and January.

The lower prices are expected to benefit customers whether they are dining out or hosting their own boils at home.

However, with Easter approaching, a time when many families traditionally host crawfish boils, prices could see a slight increase.

“Typically, St. Patrick’s Day, it goes down a little bit. But for Easter, most people, most families, do a crawfish boil at their home for Easter,” Randazzo said. “So you see the price typically go up slightly.”

Randazzo said he expects only a modest increase of about 50 cents to $1 per pound for Easter.

Chesson agreed that the holiday marks one of the busiest times of the season for crawfish sales.

“I mean, it’s when everybody is going to do family boils,” he said. “This is when we sell the most crawfish we’re going to sell.”

Despite the anticipated bump around Easter, Randazzo said he hopes prices will remain relatively low through the remainder of the season.