Stone crab commercial anglers were spared the loss of traps suffered by the Florida spiny lobster fishing industry when Hurricane Irma stormed through the Keys Sept. 10, striking about a month into the season.
The lobster season ended for many before it really had much of a chance to begin.
But for those who fish both stone crabs and lobster, high market prices for stone crabs and steady production this season, which ends this week, was what they needed to stay afloat after Irma. The hurricane had displaced or destroyed anywhere from half to a third of the 350,000 lobster traps fished in the Keys during the season that runs from Aug. 6 to March 31.
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