Oct 14, 2008 3:48 pm US/Eastern
Stone Crab Season Opens On Wednesday
Commercial Fisherman Worry About Decreased Demand
MARATHON (CBS4) ―
Commercial fishermen in the Florida Keys are stocking up on bait and giving their traps one last check in preparation for the start of stone crab season on Wednesday.
While the fishermen are confident supplies will be good, they worry in today's shaky economy whether demand will be as high as it was in years past. The crab's claws, a tasty seafood delicacy, are considered an upscale offering in restaurants and retail markets.
According to Gary Graves, vice president of Keys Fisheries, retail prices for stone crabs should be about the same as when the season ended on May 15th, 2008.
"The 2007-08 stone crab season harvest was slightly above average," said Joe OHop, a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
About 3.1 million pounds of tasty claws were harvested from state coastal waters with a $24.5 million dockside value
The Keys accounts for the largest stone crab claw take compared to any other area in the state. Last season, 827,700 pounds of claws were harvested in Monroe County. In second, was Collier County with 630 thousand pounds.
Stone crabs are one of the few renewable seafood resources. Legal claws are harvested and the body is returned to the water to generate new claws.
This year's season ends May 15, 2009.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
The top videos on CBS4.com
