(KLFY)-- D and T's Crawfish owner, Don Benoit, said it has been a challenging past few months in the industry, but said he is optimistic about the much needed relief from the act.

"It's going to help the businesses tremendously," Benoit said.

Benoit and other crawfish farmers are now getting help from the federal government. They are getting money to help them recover financially from last summer's drought. Benoit said the drought killed a lot of crawfish.

"It killed a lot of the crawfish in the boroughs," Benoit said.

Benoit said D and T's crawfish production amount has increased since the summer, with the number of pounds of crawfish jumping from about 1,700 to more than 26,000 this month.

"November, December, and January, I was down 95 percent of my 10-year average," Benoit said. "February it got a little better. We were down 85 percent, looks like March is getting a little better."

Benoit said crawfish will be tough to get for Easter, but said it be easier to buy after the holiday.

"They're going to be hard to come by, but I think you'll be able to find some this week and the week following Easter week," he said.

Businesses approved for the loan can receive up to $2 million in relief money.

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