Community members gather for the Blessing of the Stone Crab Fleet event at the Rod & Gun Club on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019 in Everglades City. The Blessing of the Stone Crab Fleet is a tradition that is meant to ensure a safe and bountiful season. Naples Daily News
The global coronavirus pandemic cut the 2019-2020 stone crab season short, and new regulations designed to curb overfishing have the industry worried about further economic harm.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday approved four regulation changes.
“Florida’s stone crab fishery has experienced a long-term decline in harvest and is likely undergoing overfishing,” an FWC news release says. “FWC staff worked with stakeholders on these changes that are intended to increase the stone crab population and build resiliency in the fishery.”
Crabbing season starts Oct. 15, and all but one of the new changes will be in effect beginning Oct 1. The changes include ending the season two weeks early on May 1 rather than May 15; adding an escape ring to all wood and plastic traps prior to the start of the 2023-24 season; increasing the minimum claw size from 2 ¾ inches to 2 7/8 inches; and limiting possession of whole crabs on the water to two checker boxes, a total of 24 cubic feet.
In May, prior to the new regulations, the Florida Stone Crabbers Association formed and began circulating a petition to have the FWC postpone approval until after the pandemic passes and software the commission uses to collect harvest data is fixed.
“Many stakeholders feel that these regulations are a shotgun approach to fixing a problem we do not have,” the change.org petition says. “Implementation of the above regulations in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic will most certainly destroy the livelihood of many commercial fishermen.”
Kelly Kirk, owner of Kirk Fish Company on Marco Island, said she felt blindsided by the proposed regulations and that there was not enough time for public comments.
“It was definitely very upsetting for those of us working so hard with the state that COVID was not even discussed,” she said. “We were already impacted last season; it ended two months early and we pretty much had to pump the brakes mid-March when restaurants shut down.”
FWC spokeswoman Amanda Nalley said the new regulation proposal was developed with the industry over several years and with COVID-19 impacts in mind as well.
“Implementing a combination of management changes is a necessary step toward improving the stone crab fishery now,” Nalley wrote in an email. “FWC recognizes that these changes could have an effect on the economics of the fishery, but these changes are being implemented as a long-term investment in the fishery’s future.”
To Carrie Doxsee, one of the directors of FLSCA, the problem crabbers face isn’t just one issue. Doxsee, whose stone crabber husband, Daniel, runs Doxsee Seafood, said her views don’t reflect those of the association.
"Crabbers lost thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, due to COVID shortening this year's season," Doxsee said. "We don’t know how much cull rings (what FWC calls escape rings) will cost, but depending upon how many traps a fisherman may have, that too could be upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.”
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The escape ring regulation won’t take effect until the 2023-24 season, and Nalley said manufacturers are aware of the time crunch.
“Both FWC and industry have been working with trap manufacturers to have escape rings available as soon as possible,” Nalley wrote. “Some manufacturers indicated that they wanted to delay production of new traps with integrated escape rings until the rule change was approved. As a reminder, the industry has three years to make sure that cull rings are in all traps.”
Aside from these economic downturns, both Doxsee and Kirk said the program FWC uses to collect harvest data, called Trip Ticket System, is flawed.
“It’s an ongoing battle,” Kirk said. “We have been asking for the state to make more of an effort to increase how valuable that Trip Ticket program is.”
Doxsee asked why the FWC wants to build a structure on a cracked foundation.
“Why not fix what is already in place rather than adding more regulations that could potentially devastate an industry,” she said.
The system uses fixed-location traps to monitor stone crab population trends over time, but Doxsee said crab populations migrate and that data from static traps may not reflect that. The FWC disagreed.
In her email, Nalley wrote that the Trip Ticket System’s data shows a “long-term declining trend in stone crab landings over the last 20 years since peak harvest in the 2000-2001 season.”
“Regarding the way that we sample, maintaining fixed stations is an accepted method among fisheries scientists to capture trends over time,” Nalley wrote. “When traps are placed in a manner that ‘follows’ the crabs, it may result in inflated catch rates that are not reflective of the true population size.”
More: A look back at past stone crab seasons in Southwest Florida
In the FWC’s presentation of the regulations this week, the staff’s stated goal was to “increase the stone crab population and build resiliency in the fishery.”
The presentation put forth the following goals: reduce harvest, increase spawning stock biomass, decrease the fishery’s interaction with egg-bearing female crabs late in the season, reduce mortality of undersized crabs, and reduce mortality of crabs after they are released.
The FWC modified its original season length regulation after hearing from the industry. It had originally proposed moving the end date to April 9 but settled on May 1 during the final proposal.
Even though these new regulations are finalized, Doxsee said the FLSCA, which hopes to keep stakeholders informed, is not going away.
“We will continue to fight for stone crabbers to have a voice and continue to advocate for our industry at all costs,” she said.
Karl Schneider is an environment reporter. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter: @karlstartswithk, email him at kschneider@gannett.com
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FWC's new stone crab regulations spark economic concerns for fisheries - Naples Daily News
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