Home Consumer Mini Lobster Season Opens Wednesday (Video)

Mini Lobster Season Opens Wednesday (Video)

 Thousands of visitors have descended on the Florida Keys getting ready for an annual hunt to catch tasty Florida spiny lobster.

Keys officials want leisure travelers as well as residents to have an enjoyable, safe and non-impacting experience during the upcoming two-day lobster sport season, also known as lobster mini season, that begins 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and continues to midnight Thursday. The same applies to the traditional lobster harvesting season that begins Aug. 6.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials want lobster catchers to understand that some of the rules differ in the Keys versus other parts of the Florida mainland.

According to FWC officials, the four most important resource and safety protective measures include:

  1. Bag limit is six lobsters per person, per day, all day in Monroe County (differs from other areas of Florida where 12 per person, per day is permitted). No multi-trips on the same day.
  2. Measure each lobster correctly, and measure while still in the water. Carapace (hard part of shell) must measure greater than three inches. If a lobster is too small, it must not be harvested.
  3. Use a dive flag. Put it up when diving and take it down when underway. Divers must stay within 300 feet of their dive flag (100 feet if in a channel).
  4. It is prohibited to touch coral, bump corals with dive fins, stand on coral or anchor a boat on coral.

Officials with FWC emphasize the importance of correctly measuring each lobster, while harvesting in the water.

“You can only have six per person per day, and that goes for each person on your boat who is licensed,” said FWC officer Capt. David Dipre.

A dedicated website, KeysLobsterSeason.com, includes interactive videos with need-to-know dive and boating safety tips, up-to-date rules, regulations for lobster hunting within the Keys such as daily limits, and correct harvesting techniques. It also stresses avoiding prohibited, no-take zones protected within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary boundaries.

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SOTs in English with Captain David Dipre — Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 1:05-1:44

“You can only have six per person per day, and that goes for each person on your boat  who is licensed. When measuring the lobster the important part is to remember that this part right here, the carapace, is one solid piece of skeletal matter. So all you need to do is measure from the very front portion of the carapace to the very back. And if that does not go over, that means that the carapace is greater than three inches. That’s what you want every time. If the gauge does go over this back portion, then it’s undersized and you need to put it back.”.

SOTs in Spanish with Jorge Larios – Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 

1:45-02:08: “Haciendo un oficial local de aquí en Los Cayos vemos muchos que hay problemas cuando las personas se quedan con langosta que son muy pequeña y cuando se quedan con muchas langostas. Es importante saber que no se puede hacer dos viajes en el mismo día y que solo puede tener sus seis langostas por persona.”

2:09-2:20: “Lo que queremos mas que nada cuando vienen la gente a participar en la pesca de langosta es que tengan un buen tiempo y que lo sean con mucha seguridad.”

[vc_message message_box_color=”blue”]FloridaKeysNewsBureau release posted on SouthFloridaReporter.comJuly 25, 2022

Republished with permission [/vc_message]