Louisiana Law May Shock You When Harvesting Crawfish on Roadway

(Lafayette, Louisiana) - Crawfish season is in full swing in Louisiana, and with recent changes in the weather, crawfish seem to be everywhere.

A few days ago, I was on a back road between Rayne and Eunice, and while I was driving, I couldn't help but notice how many crawfish ponds were along the road.

Well, as I was driving and looking at the large number of crawfish traps in the fields along the roadway, something else caught my eye, and it was the crawfish on the road. Yes, some of the crawfish in the fields had relocated, and many were on the roadway I was driving on.

While some of the crawfish that escaped the ponds were already dead, some were very much alive and seeking a new location.

Why Crawfish Leave Ponds

Crawfish willl often relocate from the pond they're in as water temperatures begin to fluctuate or when oxygen levels change.

In addition, crawfish will leave the ponds they are in when the water quality is poor, so yes, they seek a better living environment.

So perhaps that is why I was seeing so many crawfish on the road: there was a drastic change in temperature and a lot of rain in the area in recent days. The crawfish were on the move.

When I told someone what I saw, and this wasn't the first time I had seen crawfish scattered across a roadway, they told me that in order to harvest or pick up crawfish on a road in Louisiana, you must have a license.

I looked into it, and sure enough, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, you must have a basic recreational fishing license here to harvest crawfish if you're 18 years or older.

That means if you are harvesting crawfish by net or by hand and you're 18 or older, you must have a license to pick up the crawfish that may be on a Louisiana roadway.

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Now, you may be asking, what about harvesting them in a private pond? If you have the landowner's permission to fish his or her pond, you do not need a license to harvest the crawfish from the private land.

Let me warn you, it is never safe to pull over on any roadway to collect crawfish or any other animal you may see on the road. Getting out of your vehicle to collect anything on a road is dangerous, and we have sadly reported many fatalities when someone got out to pick something up. Crawfish just isn't worth the risk.

Until then, enjoy the crawfish at your next boil or restaurant visit, and let those harvesting them do so safely in their ponds.