Sweet-Meat! It's Nearly Stone Crab Season
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Get ready to grab the mustard sauce or melt the butter and dip into one of South Florida's favorite seafood delicacies.
Stone crab season opens Sunday, October 15th.
But there are some strict rules for recreational and commercial fishermen who can hunt for the tasty crustaceans in state and federal waters.
- When catching catch a crab the claws can be removed, but throw back the crab
- Crabs must be captured in baited traps, declawed and released
- Egg bearing females cannot be declawed
- No hooks or spears are allowed
- Stone crab claws must be at least 2¾ inches in length to be harvested legally
- Round entrances (also known as throats or funnels) are not allowed for stone crab traps in state or federal waters off Collier, Monroe and Miami-Dade counties.
- There is a recreational daily bag limit of 1 gallon of claws per person or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less.
The nice thing about eating stone crab claws, other than they are delicious, is that stone crab claws are the only renewable resource from the water. Crabbers are asked to take only one claw from each crab, which is then regenerated over time.
A crab that is returned to the water with one claw intact is able to get more food in a shorter amount of time and therefore regrow its claw faster.
When in season, stone crabs are widely available at seafood stores and supermarkets throughout South Florida. The claws are cooked soon after being harvested, then chilled and served cold. If you get them cracked at the store, it's best to eat them within 12 hours. If you buy them uncracked, they can be refrigerated and eaten within two days.
And if you're already a stone crab fan, then you know they come at a hefty price.
Prices do fluctuate but are most expensive during peak demand such as the first week of the season, and around major holidays such as Christmas, New Year's Eve and even the Super Bowl.
The season runs through May 15.
Click Here for a complete list of rules and regulations from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
