The stone crab harvest was down this year — way down — and local crabbers say it was because of red tide.
With Wednesday marking the final day of harvest for the 2018-19 season, several Cortez crabbers left their boats tied up at the dock, rather than scouting for the hard-to-find crustaceans.
“It’s been a very slow year,” said Brian Ibasfalean, production manager for A.P. Bell Fish Company Inc. “The boats are way off. (Tuesday), it was about 15 pounds of stone crab. (Wednesday), so far, nothing. It’s red tide, I’m pretty sure.”
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