October 12, 2014 –When it comes to claws, there could be cause for cheer: Stone-crab season opens Wednesday, with commercial fishermen seeking the legal-size claws that rank as Monroe County's most lucrative harvest after spiny lobster.
"No one ever knows for sure until the first pull of the season, but we do have some things that are looking good," Bill Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen's Association, said Friday.
A strong season would be welcome since the two previous crab seasons were below average and bleak, respectively.
The 2013-14 season could have been less than 2 million pounds, which is 30 percent below the typical historic season of about 3 million pounds, according to estimates.
Many fishermen survived financially only because customers were willing to pay record-high prices for the claws, Gary Graves of Marathon's Keys Fisheries said at the season's end in May.
Wholesale prices last season often ranged from $9 per pound of medium claws to more than $30 per pound for larger claws. Retail prices paid by consumers were significantly higher.