Ready for a lobster dinner? What to know about hitting the water and grabbing your own
South Florida and the Florida Keys are preparing for the annual two-day lobster miniseason. It’s a time when scores of boaters, divers and snorkelers take to the water in search of spiny lobster — a delicacy not only craved locally, but by seafood aficionados and restaurateurs as far away as China.
It’s called miniseason because of its short duration ahead of the regular commercial and recreational spiny lobster season that runs Aug. 6 through March 31.
Here is what you should know about the upcoming miniseason:
When is lobster miniseason in 2021?
It’s next week, July 28-29. Every year, miniseason begins at 12:01 a.m the last Wednesday of July and ends at midnight as Thursday ends.
How did miniseason come to be?
It was approved in 1974 by the Florida Legislature as a way to ease conflict between recreational anglers and commercial trappers before the regular season started, said Andy Newman, spokesman for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. Depending on whom you ask, locals either consider mini-season a welcome boost to the slower summer tourism business or a headache that ties up traffic along the Overseas Highway and creates hazardous conditions on the water.
What should you know before heading out on the water?
Going on the hunt for spiny lobsters, which unlike their Maine lobster cousins are clawless, requires following a bunch of laws you need to know before heading out.
“We enjoy all the visitors here in the Keys during lobster miniseason. But, we want to make sure everyone is aware of the law, and is behaving in a responsible, and safe, manner,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in a statement this week.
The sheriff’s office will have extra deputies on the road, boat ramps and on the ocean and Florida Bay to make sure everyone is following the rules. The main law enforcement presence on the water, however, will be officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“Three important things you need to have with you when you come down here are safety, common senses and patience. If you have those three things hopefully you will have a safe and enjoyable experience here in the Florida Keys,” said Officer Bobby Dube, spokesman for Fish and Wildlife in the Florida Keys.
It is important for people coming to the Florida Keys to hunt for lobsters to note that some of the rules for miniseason are more strict for the island chain.
What are the rules of lobster miniseason?
- The bag limit for lobsters in the Florida Keys is six per person, per boat. The same limit applies to lobstering within Biscayne National Park in Miami-Dade County. For the rest of Miami-Dade and the rest of the state, the bag limit is 12 lobsters per person, per boat.
- Lobster hunters statewide need to have with them a Florida saltwater fishing license with a current lobster permit.
- Throughout the state, anglers must carry with them a gauge to measure the lobsters. They must be measured in the water if they are harvested while diving or snorkeling. The carapace, which is the body and head of the lobster — basically the part that is not the tail — must be greater than three inches long.
- Tails must measure more than 5 1/2 inches long.
- Lobsters must be brought to shore whole. Only once on shore can the tail and carapace be separated.
- All undersized lobsters must be returned alive and unharmed to the water.
- No egg-bearing female lobsters can be harvested.
- You can not spear or use any other tool that can pierce or break the lobster’s shell anywhere in Florida.
- In the Florida Keys and adjacent federal waters, there is no diving or snorkeling at night.
- People can still use a bully net to catch lobsters one hour after official sunset until one hour before official sunrise. Bully netting is using a basket net at the end of a pole and a light to spot and catch lobster at night from a boat.
- Recreational trapping is prohibited.
- All divers and snorkelers must display a diver down flag.
What areas are off limits during lobster miniseason?
- The Biscayne Bay and Card Sound Spiny Lobster Sanctuaries
- Anywhere within the city limits of Layton, a small incorporated municipality less than a mile in size near the Middle Keys
- Dry Tortugas National Park
- Everglades National Park
- The 18 Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Special Preservation Areas. They are marked off by several yellow buoys
- The four Special-Use Research-Only Areas of Conch Reef, Tennessee Reef, Looe Key Patch Reef and Eastern Sambo
- The two Ecological Reserves of Western Sambo and the Tortugas
- John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo
Specials Keys rules
In Monroe County and in the municipalities of Marathon, Key Colony Beach, Islamorada, Layton and Key West, there is no diving or snorkeling within 300 feet of a residential shoreline, in any man-made or private canal or in any public or private marina.
Can I drink while hunting for lobster?
While it is legal to drink alcohol on a boat, it is illegal to operate a vessel under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Dube recommends that people planning to have booze on their boat designate a designated driver who will not drink.
Breaking the rules?
Not a good idea, especially in Monroe County where the State Attorney’s Office is known to seek jail time for doing so, and judges often oblige. The possible penalty for each undersized lobster is 60 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both, according to the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office. Violating some of the above-named rules, like harvesting egg-bearing females or using a spear gun to hunt lobsters, puts you at risk for the same penalties.
Where can I find out more about lobster miniseason?
The Monroe Tourist Development Council created a public awareness campaign ahead of miniseason, which includes a website people can visit for rules and regulations, boating and diving safety tips and recommendations on harvesting lobsters while being aware of the sensitive Florida Keys marine environment.
Also, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will have an informational booth at Key Largo’s Waldorf Plaza, mile marker 100 on the ocean side of U.S. 1, in front of Divers Direct. FWC officers and other staff will demonstrate how to properly measure lobsters and provide the latest rules and regulations.The booth is scheduled to operate between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. starting Saturday through Thursday.
This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 12:03 PM.
