Harvest numbers of spiny lobster apparently dipped this year but a second straight solid season coupled with record-high wholesale prices made it a success for the Florida Keys commercial fleet.
"We've been blessed with two very good seasons," said Conch Key fisherman Gary Nichols. "It's been fantastic. The volume was lower than last season but that was a banner year."
The six-month lobster season that started last Aug. 6 ends Tuesday.
Final lobster harvest numbers won't be available for months but projections suggest a final commercial harvest for the 2014-15 season of about 4.4 million pounds, said Tom Matthews, a researcher at the Marathon office of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Typically, a legal-size lobster weighs 1 pound.
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