LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Mardi Gras gets many of us in the mood to boil some mud bugs, and it's almost that time of year.
However, experts said crawfish could be hard to come by this year, and any consumer that snags some can expect to pay a pretty price.
"We're already behind three weeks," Eat My Catfish President Travis Hester said.
Eat My Catfish usually serves crawfish this time of year, but Hester said things are different.
"We're talking to the guy who's in the field catching them," Hester said. "Trying to figure out what has happened to this crop."
Hester's two crawfish farmers in Louisiana credit the crawfish shortage to the heat and drought.
"They're saying that the supply would be down at least half this year," Hester said. "We're anticipating less availability, which will hurt probably the people who try to boil at home... prices are probably a little bit higher in the end."
Floyd's Meat and Seafood in Sherwood expects the same changes this year.
The restaurant's owner, Lisa Marshall, said customers are already calling asking when they can get some crawfish.
Unfortunately, right now, Marshall doesn't have an exact answer.
"Right now, the people in charge are saying March or mid-April," Marshall said. "Then it's going to be short and sweet and done, so be prepared."
Instead of crawfish boils for your Super Bowl party, Marshall suggested shrimp as a substitute.
"The heat and the drought together holding hands just wrecked everything," Marshall said. "We usually average about 70 to 80,000 pounds, and that is usually from February to the end of May, and this year, it's really impossible to tell. I'd say we'll probably be down by three-quarters, if not more."
Regarding the cost, Marshall and Hester aren't sure exactly what to expect yet and are taking things one day at a time.
While there are still many unknowns, they know customers will be happy once it finally arrives.
"Can't wait to get those buckets and those big plates of crawfish and seeing those friends and family gathered around the table just chucking them as fast as they can," Hester said.
According to Baton Rouge Business Report, crawfish prices are almost double what they were a year ago.