For two days in July before the lobster season opens,
lobster divers and snorkelers can hunt lobsters in the keys - subject to
certain license, rules, regulations, and limitations. This year 30,000 lobster divers and
snorkelers bought licenses and came to the keys with small and medium size
boats to get their 6 lobsters per day; 12 over the 2 day season. It’s commonly called mini lobster season.
Laura asked ‘Can you eat twice as many mini lobsters?’ Good
question, but it’s more accurately called the mini season for lobsters!
I had heard of it, vaguely, and D had participated in his
youth, so we considered it; then thoughtfully, we decided to avoid the
craziness, chaos, and fun. On the first
day I rode my bike to the famous 7 mile bridge at dawn to see the action. From the bridge I saw boats everywhere – at each
of the columns under the bridge, boat to boat on the horizon, and near each
shoal in between. There were thousands
of boats. Each boat had the requisite
red and white dive flag, and I am sure each diver had his/her tickle stick and
measurer. The tickle stick is to get the
lobster out of its hole or structure, I am not sure actually how it works. The measurer is to make sure no lobster is
taken that is not of legal size. Legal size is more than 3 inches on the
carapace, or the rigid upper shell of the lobster. From reading the rules, I sense the intent of
no harm to the lobster, so no spearing and you need to use the orange gloves,
and you can’t poke the tickle stick with intent to injure. You can’t take pregnant females, lobsters
with eggs under their tails. Then there
are the geographic limitations! Then
there were the law enforcement boats going boat to boat to check licenses,
equipment, and lobster limits. Monroe County Sheriff Department, Florida Marine
Patrol, Fish and Wildlife Commission, and US Coast Guard (for safety only) were
all out in force. The really good news is no reported deaths or serious
injuries. Over the past 10 years there
are 1-2 deaths per season, usually due to lack of preparation by the divers
according to the local news papers.
We saw lobsters in the water gathered at the docks by the
Keys Fisheries near the marina. Little
did they know what was coming and what was in store for them and their
colleagues! I am sure the lobster nation
was trying to raise a white surrender flag.
A new rule this year addresses lion fish, a spectacularly
beautiful, poisonous, and invasive species that eats everything on the reef and
has no predators at this time. They eat
lobsters, too. There are various
programs that are attempting to rid the area of lion fish. In mini season for every 10 lion fish that a
diver brings in, he/she can get 1 more lobster.
So the dive shops are promoting lion fish catch holders, creative
looking traps and tools that catch the lion fish without endangering the diver,
in addition to all those tickle sticks and measurers! The diver actually spears
the lion fish and sticks it in the catch holder where it is contained with
other lion fish and cannot prick anyone. One local dive shop, Tilden’s, is
hosting spiny and spine dive tours.
Spiny for the lobster and spine for the lion fish. We haven’t seen any lion fish – when we asked
we were told that Marathon has been successful in pushing the lion fish far out
to sea, but it’s still there, breeds year round and remains a threat to the
local environment. Supposedly, one diver
has made quite a living from the bounty on lion fish. There is a restaurant that advertises lion
fish sushi, and it’s a hoot on the plate!! Come to think of it, Rumfish on St.
Pete Beach serves lion fish chowder, I had it at the Chowder fest with Claire.
Now that the mini-season is over, it’s time for the
professionals to move in. Marathon announces lobster season official start with
a huge display of fireworks. How did we find
out? They woke us up with the thunder
and lights of nearby fireworks at midnight.
At midnight August 1, the lobster fishermen can start setting out their
traps. So the fireworks are the starting
guns for the race to set out with boats full of traps. If you had driven the keys in the past month,
you probably noticed the many traps along the way. Miles and miles of traps stacked 8-10 feet
high. They are now being loaded, boat
after boat, trip after trip, until the stacks are gone. D and I drove to Key Largo to pick up a cable
for the AIS function, and got to see many lobster traps already set in the
waters, and boats filled with traps headed out, and empty boats coming in for
more. Our friend Tony at West Marine told us he has 3 commercial customers who
will be putting out at combined 10,000 traps! The lobsters don’t have a
chance!
The lobster fishermen can start harvesting their traps
August 6. I love lobster!
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