Yes… we’re still shipping live crawfish. Crawfish season ain’t over yet. You may see us draining some of our man-made crawfish ponds right now, but that does not mean the season is finished. Draining ponds is a normal and necessary part of the crawfish cycle. Here’s why. Man-made crawfish ponds have to be managed on a schedule. In the wild, crawfish follow the natural rise and fall of water. In a pond, we have to recreate that cycle ourselves. That means flooding at the right time, trapping during the season, then draining when it is time to reset the pond. Draining gives the crawfish a reason to burrow. That matters because crawfish do a huge part of their life cycle underground. They survive the hot summer in those burrows, and the females reproduce there before the ponds are flooded again later in the year. It also gives us time to prep the ponds for next season. Once the water is off, we can work on the ground, manage vegetation, prepare forage, handle field maintenance, and get everything ready for the next crop. There is also a water quality reason. Late in the season, hot water can get harder to manage. Oxygen drops faster, vegetation breaks down, and holding bad water too long can do more harm than good. Sometimes the best thing for the pond is to drain it and let the next cycle begin. So yes, some farms are draining. We are draining some of ours too. But live crawfish season is still going because not every pond is on the same schedule, and wild-caught crawfish can become a bigger part of the supply as we move deeper into summer. That’s where all this rain helps. A wet summer gives us better signs for late-season crawfish than a dry one. More water in the right places means more opportunity for crawfish to keep moving. So if you still want one more boil, we’re still shipping live Louisiana crawfish. Just don’t wait too long if you want a specific size or option. - @louisianacrawfishco