Invasive Species of Snail Adversely Affecting Crawfish, Rice Crops in Louisiana
By Matt Houston & Rachael Thomas
WAFB-TV 9
A foreign, invasive species of snail has infested a handful of fields in southwestern Louisiana, forcing some farmers to reseed entire rice crops and scale back crawfish production.
The Apple Snail eats at young rice plants and thrives in moist environments. Farmers say the snails are clogging their crawfish traps, forcing workers to sort through their catches so snails are not sold with the mudbugs.