Sunday October 15th was the first day of stone crab season. It’s a day that not only local fisherman look forward too but also fans who love to chow down on the sweet and delicate tasting seafood. In 2005, Hurricane Wilma caused up to three quarters of the stone crab trap inventory to be lost or damaged but this year, it’s a different story. This hurricane season has been pretty quiet. Opening retail pricing for the succulent claws is to similar to last season. At Keys Fisheries, in the middle Keys, that means mediums for about $10 per pound, large claws about $15 to $16 a pound and jumbos around $20 a pound. The stone
crab is the state’s only renewable commercial fishing resource. Legal-size claws are snapped off and the crab’s is returned to the water to grow new extremities. Crabs can regenerate claws up to three times within their lifetime, which is normally seven to eight years, according to marine research scientists.
Stone crab season officially ends on May 15.