CORTEZ – Stone crab season begins Oct. 15, and one local stone crabber is preparing himself for a difficult season, due in part to the cost of fuel.
Commercial stone crabber Wayde Campbell and his crew are cleaning and preparing more than 3,000 stone crab traps, but he says he’s not optimistic about this season.
“I expect plenty of crab, but the cost of fuel is going to kill you,” he said. “We’re already seeing it in Key West, where it’s about $6.50 for fuel. The gas price is affecting everybody.”
According to AAA, marine diesel fuel prices were in the $5-per-gallon range a year ago.
Campbell, who grew up in a stilt house on 124th Street West in Cortez, said he has been fishing for stone crabs his entire life.
He is concerned about what the resale price for his catches will be this year, based on what he said is a low price for lobster catches in South Florida.
“On top of the fuel prices, they’re only paying $5 for lobster in Key West this year, so that worries me. That’s not a good sign for us,” he said. “That is the worst I’ve seen since I was a little kid.”
Beginning Oct. 5, Campbell and several others will board his two boats, Captain Jim and Lacey Jean, and set their traps approximately six miles offshore.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) regulates commercial and recreational crabbing. Traps are allowed to be set 10 days before the start of the season, but they must be left unharvested and untended until Oct. 15.
“It will take us about 10 days to get them all out,” Campbell said.
He said uncertainty comes with the territory each year.
“You never know what kind of year it’s going to be, so you’ve just got to go every year.”
REGULATIONS
Stone crab season runs through May 1. According to FWC, the minimum claw size is 2 7/8 inches. Only the claws may be harvested.
FWC recommends taking only one claw per crab so it still has one remaining claw for feeding and self-defense.
For recreational stone crabbers, the following regulations apply:
• Recreational bag limit: 1 gallon of claws per person, or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less.
• Up to five traps per person; this requires free annual online registration at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com for harvesters 16 and older.
• Prohibited: taking claws from egg-bearing females; using spears, hooks or other devices that can puncture or crush a crab.
• All traps must have an unobstructed 2 3/16-inch escape ring in a vertical exterior wall.
• Unused traps should be removed from the water to prevent “ghost fishing.”
