Long before the first stone crab claw hit a cooler, the work started on land. Through the summer, crews at The Crab Plant in Crystal River hauled boats out of the water, repaired traps and maintained equipment, paying those costs before the season’s first catch.
Florida’s stone crab season opened Oct. 15, and some Citrus County businesses have had a solid start. But higher fuel costs are squeezing the chain from fishermen to retailers, and the weather can still affect how much gets caught.
Florida’s stone crab fishery is built around harvesting claws rather than whole crabs. Fishermen remove claws that meet legal size requirements and return the crabs to the water alive. The crabs then grow their claws back.
At The Crab Plant, the season has started slightly better than last year. Kelly Kofmehl, who has worked in the stone crab business since 1988, said production has been somewhat higher and the crabs have been larger.
“It’s been decent,” Kofmehl said. “We’ve had better starts, but we’ve had way worse.”
Even with a better start, getting crabs from the water to customers costs more.
“Everything we do is more expensive,” he said, pointing to fuel prices as one of the biggest challenges for the business.
The Crab Plant has tried to keep customer prices at last year’s levels despite the higher production costs. Instead of raising prices, the business is trying to operate more efficiently.
For fishermen, higher expenses can mean taking home less. Michelle “Shelly” Smith, co-owner of Shelly’s Seafood Market, said businesses cannot always pay fishermen more when market prices do not rise enough to cover costs.
“They make less,” Smith said. “We try to pay as much as we can, but it can’t be more than market price.”
Smith said stone crab prices can change daily or weekly depending on supply and demand. When costs rise but market prices do not keep pace, fishermen and businesses have less room to absorb the difference.
Karri Holliday, co-owner of Aripeka Stone Crab Company, said her retail and wholesale business is facing similar pressure from higher fuel costs and slower consumer spending.
Holliday described the season’s start as average. She said the beginning of the season is usually productive because the crabs have had the summer to rest, although this year has been somewhat slower.
Weather has also played a role. During the second week of the season, strong easterly winds kept boats in Smith’s area from going out on the water for several days. Smith said it was too early to know how the rest of the season would go.
Weather can also work in fishermen’s favor. Kofmehl said a hurricane that passed offshore while crews were setting up traps stirred up the water and helped move the crabs.
“The crabs move when in the rougher water,” he said.
Winter is especially important for The Crab Plant, when seasonal visitors arrive inFlorida.
“For us, it’s everything,” Kofmehl said.