The Student Programming Association is spending about $5,000 more on crawfish, corn and potatoes for Crawfish Day this year compared to last year.

With Lent falling close to the end of the semester this year, Crawfish Day is being held earlier. This early in the season, the price of crawfish is higher, Melvin Harrison, Student Life assistant director, said.

The total cost of the 5,500 pounds of crawfish, 650 pounds of potatoes and 8 cases of corn ordered this year was $18,500, exceeding last year’s cost of $13,500 for 5,700 pounds of crawfish, plus potatoes and corn.

The crawfish are ordered after SPA receives bids from local crawfish farmers. The lowest bidder provides the crawfish, potatoes and corn. Heads and Tails won this year’s bid and has won it for the past several years, Harrison said.

Harrison said that the higher cost was planned for, but the final price was still less than expected.

The $18,500 was spent on just the crawfish and fixings, however. Other vendors, booths and events that are usually seen at Crawfish Day are not included in this price, but according to Harrison, more organizations will be participating this year, and they will be providing additional services, such as merchandise and games.

Rides, food and other events will be paid for using the Crawfish Day fund.

The money for Crawfish Day comes from student-assessed fees of $15 and from left over money of the previous year’s Crawfish Day, Harrison said. SPA uses these funds to provide all the activities that are available and not donated by other organizations. Any money left over from Crawfish Day is recycled for the next year.

Though crawfish were more expensive this year, the size of crawfish themselves decreased this season. The crawfish are smaller because of the colder temperatures Louisiana received this winter, Eric Brown, crawfish farmer from Lake Charles, said.

Despite the change in crawfish prices, the point of crawfish day remains the same.

“We want to use Crawfish Day as an advocacy for other organizations to rally for their cause to the student body and provide them with information and other memorabilia,” Harrison said.