Seafood distributors and restaurants for years have imported thousands of pounds of live Louisiana crawfish into Colorado for spring celebrations and boils.
But unbeknownst to many of those cooking up the Southern staple, importation and possession of live red swamp crayfish has been illegal for decades in the state because the species is invasive.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife started investigating the importation of crayfish in March after receiving a tip from Louisiana about someone importing the species into the state. The agency issued one ticket in that case, but the tip opened a can of crawdads. Wildlife officials are now taking a new look at the regulations around the species and could potentially change the law.
“We discovered quite a large market,” he said. “They’ve been imported for quite a while now before it came onto our radar.”
Wildlife officials issued cease-and-desist orders to distributors and embarked on a statewide education campaign to stop people from bringing in the crawfish. Most restaurants and distributors simply didn’t know that the red swamp crayfish was illegal, said Joey Livingston, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman.
Wildlife officials fear the species could be introduced into Colorado’s lakes and streams and harm native crayfish species and local habitats. But restauranteurs and families who buy the mudbugs for spring celebrations say the species is culturally important and the state’s ban is too strict.
“Spreading the culture to Colorado is why we enjoy doing this — the smiles,” said Jacob Starkovich, owner of Colorado Claw and Tail. “And people love it. The party that we throw for them is not their stereotypical caterer.”
The risks to local ecosystems can be mitigated through regulation or a permitting system, crawfish chefs and distributors said.
“The crawfish we sell for $6 a pound, nobody’s putting in a pond or lake,” said Anthony Verdin Sr., who has sold live Louisiana crawfish in Colorado for ten years. “The only water they’re seeing is a pot of boiling water.”
Invasive species
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials fear the red swamp crayfish will make its way into local waterways if people release them there or use them as fishing bait. The species, which are native to the Gulf Coast states, could outcompete native crayfish species and destroy ecosystems that local aquatic life rely on, Livingston said.
“Aquatic invasive species are a big issue all over the country,” he said.
Some studies have shown the red swamp crawfish can live for months at near-freezing water temperatures, according to the Smithsonian Institute. The species has established populations in other Western states — including Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Nevada and Utah — and in the waters of cold-weather states like Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. Internationally, the species is found in cold-weather countries like Poland and Switzerland.
It’s possible the red swamp crayfish is already in Colorado waters — state biologists haven’t sampled for the species in more than a decade, Livingston said. Colorado Parks and Wildlife also hasn’t studied how the red swamp crayfish would fare in Colorado.
“There is potential for them to survive in Colorado as well,” Livingston said, especially in eastern Colorado, where waters stay relatively warm throughout the year.
A different invasive crayfish species, the rusty crayfish, is one of Colorado wildlife managers’ top invasive concerns in the state. The crayfish has been found in Colorado’s waterways since 2009 and wildlife managers believe they were introduced after anglers used them as bait. They outcompete native species of crayfish and destroy underwater ecosystems important for fish spawning.
‘The people want it'
Wildlife officials’ interest in crawfish put a dent on this year’s crawfish season, which generally lasts from February to June in Colorado.
Lucas Thompson, a Colorado Springs chef, started the Colorado Crawfish Co. in 2022 to cater crawfish boils and sell live crawfish. He bought live crayfish from local retailers and then resold them or boiled them for customers. Some weekends he was selling more than 300 pounds, Thompson said.
He didn’t realize they were illegal until he applied for a license to import them himself and was denied. In March, he stopped selling live crawfish and doing boils. It wasn’t worth the risk of a hefty fine or a misdemeanor charge for him or his customers. Instead, he sold frozen crawfish, which is legal but there is far less demand.
He didn’t meet his projected profit goals. His dreams of opening a food truck and, eventually, a brick-and-mortar store are on pause.
“We kind of just stopped business,” Thompson said.
Verdin started hauling live crawfish and other seafood from Louisiana to the Front Range ten years ago.
“It became a whole industry in Colorado, bringing in live Louisiana crawfish,” he said.
It wasn’t until a different supplier from Louisiana was caught in Colorado with live crawfish that Verdin learned they were illegal here. He called Colorado Parks and Wildlife for more information and was told to stop selling. Colorado was their biggest market, he said. On Mother’s Day, he would regularly sell 200 sacks — or about 6,000 pounds — of crawfish in the state.
“The people want it,” he said. “And they don’t want it just in a restaurant. They want to be able to buy a sack of crawfish, take it to their house, buy some beer, invite some friends over and have a party.”
Starkovich, who is from Louisiana, estimated that more than 80% of the customers for his Broomfield-based catering company are Coloradans. He started catering crawfish boils in 2000 and regularly caters for companies, breweries and large events.
Not many Colorado restaurants use live crawfish, but for those that do the species is a core component of their menu and business, said Colin Larson, director of government affairs for the Colorado Restaurant Association. The issue came to the association’s attention in March when Colorado Parks and Wildlife contacted one of their members about their use of the live crawfish.
“We’ve never heard of CPW doing enforcement for restaurants,” Larson said.
Larson met with Department of Natural Resources leaders to hash out the issue and the department, which oversees Parks and Wildlife, opted to educate restaurant owners instead of issuing fines and summons. Many restauranteurs don’t know what specific species of crawfish they’re using or if it’s illegal, Larson said.
Livingston couldn’t say how many distributors or restaurants were cited or fined for importing and possessing the red swamp crayfish. The agency has focused on keeping distributors from selling to individuals and issued temporary pardons for restaurants selling the crayfish.
“It could’ve gone the other way, they could’ve said, ‘Well that’s the letter of the law,’ and park rangers could’ve been going into restaurants,” Larson said. “But they recognize that restaurants are not where invasive species are going to come from.”
