Louisiana crawfish industry facing $300M threat amid cap on visa programs

(KPLC) - Crawfish farmers and processing plant owners say delays and a cap on H-2B visa programs have disrupted Louisiana’s crawfish industry, which could see a statewide economic impact of up to $300 million.

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain said 15 of the 20 crawfish peeling plants in the state have not received any foreign workers this season due to new H-2B visa restrictions that have prevented seasonal migrant workers from returning.

“We need them immediately, not three months from now; we need them today,” Strain said.

Strain said the positions are first offered to American workers, but there are not enough applicants to meet demand.

“These are skilled, returning guest workers, legal guest workers coming here to do a job and go home,” Strain said. “These workers don’t come, the job doesn’t get done. That’s the bottom line.”

Alan Lawson, who owns a crawfish farm and processing plant, said a more stringent application process, government consolidation, and a limited number of visas have left the future of the season uncertain.

“At best, if we got an allocation today, we would be getting them at the end of March, which we’ve already missed a portion of the year,” Lawson said. “We don’t get back because we missed it.”

Lawson said he hopes to receive at least some workers as soon as possible to salvage what remains of the season.

“The house is on fire. We’ve lost the living room. We’re trying to save the bedrooms so we can have something to rebuild,” Lawson said. referring to what he says lobbyists have said to lawmakers.

Lawson pushed back on characterizations of the migrant workers affected by the restrictions.

“They’re not thugs, they’re not illegals, they’re not criminals. These are working people who come here, they work a fair day’s wage for fair money, and they go home,” he said.

Strain said that without a solution, farmers may be forced to ship crawfish to Mexico for peeling and import them back into the United States. Strain also said the best thing people can do for the industry right now is eat more crawfish.