Stone crab season is here, with some reminders from state officials

Stone crab season ends May 1 in Florida and Federal waters.

Stone crab is one of Florida’s true dining treats, and the recreation and commercial season for catching the crustaceans is on Tuesday.

Stone crab season runs through May 1 in Florida waters and associated waters. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is encouraging residents who are 16 years or older to take advantage of the season. But there are some strict reminders and stipulations before throwing down stone crab traps into state and federal waters.

For recreational stone crabbers, crab trap registrations are required. The application process is free at the FWC registration website. There’s also a license registration at that site. Following that registration, each person gets a unique trap registration number that has been attached to each trap in a legible and permanent label. Those requirements apply to local waters as well as federal waters.

There are other stipulations, including limits on crabs that are harvested from traps. Each crab that is harvested must have a minimum claw size of 2 7/8 inches long.

There are also stipulations for the actual stone crab traps themselves including “an unobstructed escape ring measuring 2 3/16 inches in diameter that must be located within a vertical exterior trap wall for all recreational and commercial plastic or wood stone crab traps,” an FWC news release said.

Of course, the claws are the point of harvesting the stone crabs. FWC officials advise there are rules for the removal process as well.

“Care should be taken when removing the claws so as to not permanently injure the crab,” the FWC news release said. “Claws may not be taken from egg-bearing stone crabs. Stone crabs may not be harvested with any device that can puncture, crush or injure a crab’s body. Examples of devices that can cause this kind of damage include spears and hooks.”

While there are many stipulations as to catching and harvesting the stone crabs, state officials are pretty liberal when it comes to the amount of stone crabs being harvested, although there are limits on that end as well.

“Recreational harvesters may take a daily bag limit of 1 gallon of claws per person or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less, and may use up to five stone crab traps per person,” the FWC release said.

For more detailed stipulations, FWC advises Floridians to visit the recreational stone crab trapping website and the commercial stone crab website.