Opinion ID: 219871
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Crawfish farming and processing

Text: Louisiana crawfish are farmed in rice ponds. The Louisiana farm-raised crawfish crop allegedly suffered a precipitous decline beginning in the 1999-2000 crawfish season. According to plaintiffs-appellants Tess Wiltz d/b/a Opelousas Crawfish House (Wiltz) and Beaucoup Crawfish of Eunice, Inc. (Beaucoup Crawfish), the decline was caused by the application of rice seed coated with ICON, a pesticide manufactured and sold by defendant-appellee Bayer CropScience, L.P. (Bayer). ICON rice allegedly was introduced in Louisiana rice ponds during the 1999 planting season and taken off the market a few years later. [1] The plaintiffs buy crawfish from crawfish farmers and then either resell the crawfish live or process them for tail meat. As crawfish buyers and processors, the plaintiffs assert they play an essential and necessary role in the creation, preservation and perpetuation of the Louisiana crawfish industry. The plaintiffs have submitted evidence indicating that they create a market for small peeler crawfish, sell bait to crawfish farmers, provide loans to crawfish farmers, and provide logistical support to crawfish farmers by storing and transporting crawfish. According to the plaintiffs, the farmers and the Buyer/Processors are really one unified group and not two separate groups, and harm to the latter is inevitable if a defective product were to sterilize or kill the crawfish crops. The plaintiffs allege they suffered economic loss when ICON rice drastically reduced the number of crawfish they could buy and process. Although the plaintiffs have submitted evidence suggesting they work closely with crawfish farmers, the plaintiffs have not submitted any evidence suggesting ICON actually harmed their crawfish. [2] Nor is there any evidence that the plaintiffs were deprived of an actual, legal right to buy crawfish from the crawfish farmers. [3]