STONE CRABS
pensated commercial anglers to make the expensive trip out to collect the claws while bringing fewer of them back to the dock.
“Stone crab populations have been severely impacted in recent years by a number of environmental factors, including Hurricane Irma in 2017, Hurricane Michael in 2018 and the devastating red tides of 2018 and 2019 along Florida’s west coast,” said Bill Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association.
The season runs each year from Oct. 15 to May 1.
Unlike other soughtafter crabs, like the Maryland blue crab, only the claws of the stone crab are harvested. The rest of the crab is returned alive to the water, per Florida law. Stone crabs can regenerate their claws up to four times in their lifetimes, making the stone crabbing one of the most sustainable forms of fishing, advocates say.
However, both claws can legally be removed, and often are, as long as they are both legal size. Critics of the practice say this is adding to declining stone crab populations.
“There has been quite a bit of research on the mortality of stone crabs after claw removal, and although findings and mortality estimates vary, the removal of both claws — not surprisingly — leads to significantly greater mortality than if only one claw is removed,” said John Ricisak, project supervisor with Miami-Dade County Environmental Resources Management. “Studies have shown that as much as one-third to over half of declawed stone crabs die after release, which suggests that the fishery is not nearly as sustainable as some might like to believe.”
CAN YOU STILL GET CLAWS?
Although the season has ended, it’s possible for customers to still buy claws at some fish markets and restaurants yearround, although they were previously frozen. However, some popular fish houses, like Golden Rule Seafood Market and Restaurant in Palmetto Bay, are already out, said manager Walter Flores.
He said that’s because the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission changed the rules in 2020, cutting the season by two weeks.
“Mother’s Day is usually a big day for us. Everybody loves to buy mom the big stone crab claw on Mother’s Day,” Flores said. “They weren’t available.”
Once the season begins, though, Flores said Golden Rule is almost immediately restocked.
“The season begins Oct. 15. We’ll have them the next day,” he said.
WHY WAS STONE CRAB SUPPLY DOWN?
According to preliminary numbers, the commercial charter fleet in Florida will likely finish bringing in just over two million pounds of claws this season, about on par with the 2019 season, which was the lowest total catch in recorded history, said Claire Crowley, research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
While there have been some fluke seasons, like in 2015 and 2016 when about three million pounds of claws were brought in, the average annual haul has been declining since the 1990s, Crowley said. From 1990 to 2000, the average seasonal catch was 3.2 million pounds, followed by 2.9 million and 2.4 million in the early 2000s and 2010s, respectively, she said.
Mike Priebel, general manager of Keys Fisheries, a Marathon restaurant and fish seller that supplies the iconic Joe’s Stone Crab in South Beach, called this season “overall, pretty quiet,” with far fewer commercial fishermen landing crabs than in years past.
The reasons differ, he said.
“It’s like gas prices. There’s no real way to put a finger on it,” Priebel said, explaining that various issues could be at play. They include:
Freshwater flows from the Everglades affecting the salinity levels in the ocean, Florida Bay and Gulf of Mexico.
Higher-than average water temperatures throughout the season.
A lack of hurricanes during the 2021 Atlantic storm season.
“There were a lot of odd factors this year that we haven’t seen in the past,” Priebel said. “There were just too many factors.”
THE INFLUENCE OF HURRICANES ON STONE CRABS
While no one living and doing business in South Florida welcomes a hurricane, the storms play an important role in the ecosystem, including the region’s fishery, especially their influence in pushing through late-season cold fronts that get sea life moving. With no major hurricanes in the late summer and fall, South Florida didn’t get a real cold front moving through until late November, which affected the stone crab harvest, Priebel said.
“Crabs move around in weather, and that didn’t happen until November,” he said. “That really hurt.”
In previous seasons,
Keys Fisheries brought in close to 200,000 pounds of claws. This year, Priebel said the haul was about 115,000 pounds.
“Some years, fishermen bring in a daily catch of between 300 to 350 pounds. It was a rare occasion this year for a fisherman to bring in for a day’s catch. It was usually between 200 and 220 pounds. It was dramatically different.”
WHAT PEOPLE PAID FOR CLAWS
Kelly said when the final claw count is in over the next few weeks, the season will likely be seen as lessthan-stellar, but overall a success.
“Anything around the two-million-pound mark would be promising,” he said.
With landings lower, commercial anglers charged more money this season per claw, even before fuel prices skyrocketed this year.
“The price per pound is significantly higher and continues to go up,” Crowley said.
Priebel said he was paying fishermen about $19 per pound for mediums, $25 for large, $32 for jumbos and $37 for colossals. That’s almost double than commercial anglers were getting in years past.
“Retail, it was all over the place, with markup 40 to 50%, especially on the larger claws,” Priebel said.
Fuel costs, however, offset much of the money commercial captains netted, especially toward the end of the season when pump prices spiked.
“It costs a lot more for the captains to be out there,” Crowley said.
NEW CRAB RULES
The industry is also dealing with new rules the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission put in place in 2020 that are aimed at rebuilding the stone crab biomass by more than one million crabs over a five-year period.
The new rules include increasing the minimum claw size by an eighth of an inch and shortening the season by two weeks.
Crowley said it’s probably too soon to tell if the rule changes have had a beneficial impact on the stone crab population, but Kelly said they “may very well exceed the goal” in the end.
“It usually takes about five years to see that kind of trend,” Crowley said.
The state will also mandate a 2- and 3/16-inch escape ring on each trap for smaller crabs and other sea life starting the 20232024 season.
Stone crabbing is an essential part of the South Florida economy, especially in the Florida Keys, where 45% of the state’s annual stone crab harvest is captured both in the
Gulf and Atlantic, Kelly said.
“The value of those crabs generates approximately $35 million to Monroe County, but with turnover for fuel, boat maintenance, food, etc., the value increases six-fold to $210 million, according to marine economists,” Kelly said.
JOE’S STONE CRAB IN MIAMI BEACH
Stephen Sawitz’s great grandfather Joseph Weiss opened Joe’s Stone Crab in 1913. Since then, it’s become world famous as the place to experience the mallet-banging ritual that is stone-crab dining.
Sawitz, 64, is now chief operating officer of the family business — a South Florida institution at 11 Washington Ave. on South Beach.
Joe’s dining room, which Sawitz calls “the mothership,” closes from Aug. 1
through mid-October, but enough claws need to be bought for the entire year. Joe’s Take Away, which sells claws as well as other items like lobster Reubens, hash browns and shrimp and lobster ceviche, then opens Aug. 3 and closes May 15. Joe’s also operates “sibling restaurants” in Chicago, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.
His restaurant is the end point for much of the stone crab harvested in the state, so Sawitz pays close attention to every aspect of the commercial fishing industry to prepare for what’s coming.
“Every pound impacts us, whether we have a great or a not so great year,” Sawitz said.
With prices up at the docks, Sawitz has had to raise prices on stone crab claws, which have always been a pricey item on any restaurant’s menu. The result this year at Joe’s:
“I’ve seen that slightly less people are ordering crabs because prices are way higher.”
An order of jumbo claws cost a table $129.95. Large claws, $79.95. Sawitz said he had no choice but to keep it that way to cover the cost of his operation, which includes a staff of hundreds.
“We didn’t want to raise prices, but we had to. It was either that or go out of business. It’s going to reflect on the menu price,” he said. “All of that is more reason to double down on service as much as you can. That’s one thing you can’t give up on.”