Stone crab season set to begin Thursday

MARATHON, Fla. (AP) -- Commercial fishermen are optimistic this year there will be a healthier consumer appetite for stone crab claws.

The stone crab season begins Thursday and ends May 15.

Last season, low demand caused by the recession, had many commercial fishermen in the Florida Keys keeping their traps on land, according to Gary Graves, vice president of Keys Fisheries, one of the largest processors of claws in the state.

"Last year we went through the first part of the recession and a lot of restaurants weren't buying stone crabs and other seafood," Graves said. "This year we believe all the fishermen have put their traps in the water and there's more optimism about selling the crabs."

The Keys is the top region in the state for the harvest of the claws.

Graves projects that crab claws will cost about the same price they commanded at the end of last season. Starting retail market prices per pound for medium was $10, large was $15 and jumbos sold for $20 to $22, Graves said.

Stone crabs are the state's only renewable seafood resource, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Legal-size claws are harvested and the body is returned to the water to generate new claws, which are considered a luxury food item.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)