Much like the President of the United States pardons a turkey at Thanksgiving, Louisiana has its own version of "the pardoning", but ours is of a crawfish. Each year, on the first Tuesday after Mardi Gras, one crawfish is pardoned in a ceremony like no other, officially kicking off crawfish season in Louisiana. The "Pardoning" was started in 2017 by Lt. Governor Billy Nunguesser. As Lt. Nunguesser stated, "what better way to celebrate our culture and heritage than to grant Emile his freedom before he ended up on a tray in a restaurant or a backyard boil?" Each year the crawfish is named in honor of someone.

Barry Toups was chosen by the Lt. Governor his staff and Zatarains to select a crawfish to be pardoned from his crawfish pond. The honored crawfish was taken by police escort to the location where Lt.Governor Nunguesser then delivered his official pardon.

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser traveled around the state from Lafayette to Lake Charles to promote Louisiana seafood. He visited Crawfish Haven/Mrs. Rose's Bed and Breakfast in conjunction with October being National Seafood Month.