It's not just mother nature that's causing the price gauge, though.

(KLFY)-- The summer drought is having lasting effects on this season's crawfish. The population is low, and the prices are high.

It's not just mother nature that's causing the price gauge, though. One local seafood retailer said foreign seafood imports have been ravaging the entire seafood industry for over two decades.

Firstly, it's important to understand where we get our seafood. More than half of the seafood we eat in America is imported from other countries, and the impact on our local fisherman and farmers is substantial. It's even driving some out of business.

"Please help the seafood industry," Chez Francois Seafood owner Andre Leger said.

He said untaxed seafood imports from foreign countries are what's killing the seafood industry in Louisiana.

"They're producing what I produce in a year every 12 hours in one facility, and they're coming into this country pennies on the dollar. They're not being taxed," he told News 10.

It's not just the crawfish industry that's struggling. It's also fish, crab and shrimp. The drought, of course, didn't help, but Leger said foreign imports are the real issue.

"Consumers are just buying it for convenience. They need to read the bag, product of Oregon. What country was it produced in? If it's not produced in Louisiana, you shouldn't be buying it," he added.

Leger said you can, but it only hurts Louisiana fishermen and farmers.

"A lot of farmers are going out of business," Leger said. "They got cars for sale, houses for sale. They can't pay their house note. They can't pay their insurance, and it's a trickle-down effect. It's the farmer. It's the processer. It's the retailer. It's the seasoning guys, the vegetable guys, the people selling beer, the restaurant, the boiling goers, and then the consumers."

Leger said they need help and relief soon. He hopes the legislature will change how seafood imports are taxed, but in the meantime, he said people need to buy local.

"We have something here in Louisiana that's priceless, and it's only here in Louisiana. We have to take care of Louisiana first," he told News 10.

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