Florida’s recreational and commercial stone crab claw harvest seasons opens on October 15th.
Stone crab fishing is very popular especially in the southern part of the state but this year will open with some tighter restrictions to help rebuild the stone crab population.
Florida’s stone crab fishery has experienced a long-term decline in harvest and is likely undergoing overfishing.
The new rules include moving the season end date from May 15th to May 1st and increasing the minimum claw size limit by 1/8 inch to 2 7/8 inches.
The new rules will also Limit the possession of whole stone crabs on the water to two checker boxes, each with a total volume of 24 cubic feet.
Checker boxes are used to hold crabs onboard a vessel before they are measured and the legal-sized claws are removed.
Claws may not be taken from egg-bearing female stone crabs.
There is a daily bag limit of one gallon of claws per person or two gallons per vessel, whichever is less.
Recreational harvesters are allowed to use up to five stone crab traps and there are new recreational trap requirements that began last year.
Recreational harvesters who fish with traps are now required to complete an online, no-cost recreational stone crab trap registration and place their registration number on their traps before using them.
You can register on-line at www.GoOutdoorsFlorida.com.
The no-cost registration will allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to collect information about the fishery, for use in future stock assessments and management decisions.
Stone crab regulations are the same in state and federal waters.
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