NEWS

La. crawfish safe from increased regulation for now

Megan Wyatt
mbwyatt@theadvertiser.com
Louisiana's favorite Lenten treat is cause for concern to many as an invasive species.

Louisiana's crawfish industry is safe for now from increased federal regulation.

The Center of Invasive Species Prevention announced Wednesday that it has withdrawn a request to increase regulations on the state's most popular species of crawfish.

The organization petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service earlier this year to add the procambarus clarkii, better known as the red swamp crawfish or Louisiana crawfish, to the injurious wildlife list.

Background: Proposed regulation could hurt La. crawfish industry

U.S. Sen. David Vitter openly opposed the petition, and the resulting media coverage led to public outcry this week.

Now, Peter T. Jenkins, president of the Center of Invasive Species Prevention, said he plans to amend the petition.

"Thank you for your attention to this," Jenkins said in an emailed statement. "We will be submitting an amended petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deleting the red swamp crayfish and doing further analysis on it. We will not be doing any more interviews on this topic."

In the original petition, the CISP said the red swamp crawfish and 42 other species didn't provide "any essential economic or other benefits" that outweighed their current and potential harm to the United States.

Jenkins clarified that point in his statement Wednesday.

"We recognize that this crayfish species has major economic value," the press release said. "It is an important part of people's livelihoods in Louisiana in particular. By no means do we want anyone in that business to feel threatened by the petition."

Vitter also issued a statement Wednesday after the CISP withdrew its petition.

"There was absolutely no merit to the outrageous efforts to damage Louisiana's crawfish industry, which is exceedingly obvious now that the outside organization has agreed to remove the red swamp crawfish from its petition," Vitter said in a press release. "It's a relief to know that Louisiana crawfish will continue to be an important part of our state's economy, cuisine and family gathers, and I'm already looking forward to my next boil."

Although crawfish are native and welcome in Louisiana, they have become a nuisance to bodies of water across the United States and beyond.

More: Scottish ordered to kill, not eat, crawfish

The red swamp crawfish out-competes native crawfish and rapidly take over habitats where it invades, according to the FWS. This "agricultural pest" alters ecosystems, reducing the population of native creatures while changing water quality and sediment characteristics.

The CISP plans to reconsider what the best options are when it comes to the red swamp crawfish.

"We do think it is important to set a precedent that USFWS acts, in some way, on all species it determines to be of highest risk of invasiveness," the press release said. "Our petition aimed to get this ball rolling. Much further analysis and public comment would go into any eventual decisions that USFWS makes on individual species."

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