Tag Archives: Florida Stone Crabbers Association

Florida Fish and Wildlife Hosts Commercial Fishing Industry Summit

June 1, 2024   Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) hosted Florida’s first Commercial Fishing Industry Summit in St. Augustine on May 21 and 22. According to FWC, the goal of the summit was to gather representatives from the industry to help develop a vision for the commercial fishing industry for the next five to 10 years. Partnering organizations included Florida Stone Crabber’s Association, Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, Beacon Fisheries, Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, Kathi’s Krabs, Organized Fishermen of Florida, Lampl Herbert Consultants, Southeastern Fisheries Association, Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, and the Southern Offshore Fishing Association, Inc. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:46

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Large Claws a Good Sign for Stone Crab Season

October 27, 2022   Gulf of Mexico

“My grandfather started Kirk Fish Company in the late 1940s, early 1950s, we’re not exactly sure when,” Kelly Kirk said. “My dad grew up here on the docks. I grew up here on the docks. It’s been in the family since then. The season seems to be starting out decent. It’s so hard to tell this early on. It usually takes a solid two weeks before we can judge what the season will look like and what the catch will be. But from what I’m hearing from the crabbers locally, and up and down the coast, the crabs are healthy, they’re strong. I’m optimistic that it’s going to be a strong season.” One sign of a good stone crab season, according to Kirk, is the size of the claws. “It’s a good sign when you see a lot of big ones,” Kirk said. “We’re seeing quite a few big ones already. >click to read< 13:44

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Florida stone crabbers asking FWC to hold off on new rules

July 16, 2020   Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission may enforce tougher rules on fishing to help increase the stone crab population, but fishermen say that could destroy their business. We talked to some of the members of the Florida Stone Crabbers Association who say a one-two punch of COVID-19 and these new rules will make a bad situation even worse. “I’m afraid that’s it’s going to cripple the livelihood of so many people out there,” said Carrie Doxsee. FWC says the state’s stone crab population is declining due to overfishing. Video, >click to read< 09:59

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