“We are turning 40, Come join us to celebrate!” declares the Mudbug Madness website. What began in 1984 as a two-day street festival in downtown Shreveport is now one of Louisiana's largest Cajun festivals. Lasting three days, it uses two stages to host 30 bands playing country, pop, blues, and zydeco music.

There are art vendors, a children’s area and of course the main attraction, that little red mudbug served with corn and potatoes.

In an effort to protect Louisiana’s struggling domestic seafood industry, state lawmakers on Wednesday passed sweeping changes to public health codes that will affect thousands of restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores and other food establishments across the state. They also include every state agency and school district that serves food. 

Senate Bill 166, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, received final passage with overwhelming bipartisan support from both chambers.

A plaintiff group, including Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West, Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club and its Delta Chapter, and Waterkeeper Alliance filed a lawsuit to challenge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s (CPRA) East Grand Lake (EGL) project in the Atchafalaya Basin.

“Crawfish aren’t just essential to my restaurant, they’re central to our culture here in south Louisiana,” explained Jason Seither, owner of Seither’s Seafood in Harahan, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans. “And when crawfish prices get as high as they got this season, it threatens an entire way of life.”

On any given year, these two-clawed, ten-legged red crustaceans — reminiscent of a lobster but much smaller at only three to six inches long — dominate springtime social gatherings and the menus of casual restaurants across Louisiana and beyond.

Congresswoman Letlow announced that crawfish will be covered under the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program and the USDA Farm Service Agency will begin delivering relief for crawfish production losses suffered in 2023 and moving forward.

Congresswoman Letlow began the push for crawfish assistance in September of 2023 with her Drought Assistance Improvement Act, following the severe drought disaster Louisiana experienced last summer.

Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted his request and included crawfish in the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP).

In January, Congressman Higgins sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting that drought be included as an eligible cause of loss for ELAP. This was a necessary action for Louisiana’s crawfish farmers to qualify and access emergency assistance in response to the severe drought in 2023.

A proposed seafood bill in the state could create stricter regulations on imported fish.

One owner of a restaurant that’s been in the community for 80 years discusses why its important to keep seafood in Louisiana local.

U.S. Congressmen Garret Graves (Louisiana) and Troy Carter (Louisiana) announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP) funding to crawfish producers in Louisiana affected by last year’s drought. Graves and Carter led a formal request in February 2024 to the USDA, laying out the authority that Congress had already granted through the ELAP statute; the bipartisan letter asked that the Secretary of Agriculture immediately provide relief to Louisiana farmers who suffered significant crop losses in 2023 due to adverse weather. USDA announced today that they were able to use that discretion to authorize policy flexibilities that will allow crawfish producers to recover losses from last year’s extreme heat.

More than 5,000 people filled the streets of downtown Wisner for the Fourth Annual South Franklin Catfish Festival.

“It was a great day,” Chairman Elliot Britt said. “I think it was the best festival we’ve had so far. We were worried about potential bad weather all week, but Saturday could not have been better. A huge thank you to the best committee anyone could ask for. Countless hours and planning goes into this event and we couldn’t do it without the support of a large group of volunteers. It really makes you feel good about our small town.”

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is reminding the public and seafood distributors that importing and possessing live red swamp crayfish also known as crawfish or Louisiana crawfish, is prohibited by law in Illinois.

The crustaceans are a popular choice for live crawfish boils.

Any Louisiana seafood lover will agree— the 2024 crawfish season has been far from normal. 

As farmers battled with drought and saltwater intrusion in the fall, mudbug prices have stayed higher than average for most of the season, and the yield for many in the seafood industry has been significantly smaller.