U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for relief for Louisiana's struggling crawfish industry.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KLFY) -- U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.-3) has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for relief for Louisiana's struggling crawfish industry.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Higgins cited the recent drought and the more recent freeze in asking for federal help under the the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).

"The Louisiana State University's Agriculture Center estimated the potential losses to be nearly $140 million due to the combined drought and freeze," Higgins wrote. "This figure represents a significant portion of the state's $230 million crawfish industry, underscoring the severity of the situation."

According to the USDA website, ELAP provides financial assistance to producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions, including blizzards and wildfires, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. Higgins is requesting the secretary include drought as an eligible cause of loss under the program, and to revise how the program defines a freeze, to allow crawfishermen to qualify for federal money.

"These changes are vital for providing relief to the crawfish industry, which is not only economically significant but also an integral part of our state's cultural heritage," Higgins wrote. "Furthermore, I advocate for the implementation of robust regulatory measures to maintain the highest standards for all aquaculture products entering our country."

According to Higgins, the combination of the drought and freeze has caused $1.69 billion in damage to the overall agricultural sector in Louisiana.

Crawfish farmers like Bart Gilbert said this is the worst season he's seen since he's been in the industry.

"This is by far the worst season I've seen," Gilbert said. "I've been in it since about 35 years going 40 years. But it's never, never seen anything like this before."

Gilbert said because of decline, farmers aren't catching as many this season compared to previous seasons.
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"We get 300, sometimes 400 sacks a day this time of year," Gilbert said. "This year we get 15 sacks day."

He said there are farmers who have invested anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 into preparing for the season and have yet to see profit.

"I mean, I know people who drop in insurance on homes to drop insurance on vehicles, agriculture equipment, they you know, they can't pay the loans on it," Gilbert said. "It's bad, bad situation for everybody right now down here."

Mark Shirley with the LSU AG Center said the relief Congressman Higgins is requesting is something crawfish farmers desperately need.

"It's going to take some efforts by the USDA to come up with a fair and good way to provide some assistance," Shirley said. "But the farmers will need some help this year."

Gilbert said it's been extremely hard this season, but he hopes he and fellow farmers can push through.

"Mother nature changes things, and she threw us a curve this year," Gilbert said. "Hopefully we'll come out of it and survive the rest of the year."

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