Like I have said before, you have to get them when the getting is good. Most guys won't admit they got a little over the limit. Anyway, the commercial guys take just about all the lobster. Read that the price per pound is 3.00-4.00 this year compared to 8.00 last year. Hope this makes them reconsider whether trapping this year is worth it and start pulling traps very early...More for us divers then....
Lobster report in Keys
- Thread starter jaynie04
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
mokus10
Guest
We just returned from the Keys from a weekend of lobstering. Here is my summary:
1. We had a great time all and all, but whoever started the rumor that lobstering is great in the Keys needs to have his/her examined! Every local papers state how horrible this year is (and the impact for commercial fisherman)!
2. There are plenty of small lobsters (and I hope people do NOT take them), but very-very few that are legal size. We got 8 in 2 ½ days. We ALWAYS max out in West Palm…(and used to in the Keys as well).
3. The visibility was very bad. At some places only 1 foot, and the BEST was only about 10 feet. We dove both on the Atlantic and on the Gulf side.
4. The economy took a terrible toll, with many businesses (restaurants, retail shops, motels, gas stations, etc.) out of business and many barely making ends meet.
5. If one wants to buy real estate cheep, this is the time. Everything is for sale!
All and all, it is sad to see the deteriorations both in terms of economy and ecology!!!! Hope things will get better (especially for the marine life) and my kids and grandkids will be able to enjoy the beauty of this treasure as much as we used to!!!
1. We had a great time all and all, but whoever started the rumor that lobstering is great in the Keys needs to have his/her examined! Every local papers state how horrible this year is (and the impact for commercial fisherman)!
2. There are plenty of small lobsters (and I hope people do NOT take them), but very-very few that are legal size. We got 8 in 2 ½ days. We ALWAYS max out in West Palm…(and used to in the Keys as well).
3. The visibility was very bad. At some places only 1 foot, and the BEST was only about 10 feet. We dove both on the Atlantic and on the Gulf side.
4. The economy took a terrible toll, with many businesses (restaurants, retail shops, motels, gas stations, etc.) out of business and many barely making ends meet.
5. If one wants to buy real estate cheep, this is the time. Everything is for sale!
All and all, it is sad to see the deteriorations both in terms of economy and ecology!!!! Hope things will get better (especially for the marine life) and my kids and grandkids will be able to enjoy the beauty of this treasure as much as we used to!!!
Sounds like we were on different Keys! Our group caught 93 keepers, had a fantastic all-you-can -eat lobster feast for 48 guests on Friday evening, catered by a local Key Largo restaurant, and did our part in pumping the money into the local community. We run trips just about monthly to the Keys, and from our perspective, the local economy is stable, the businesses we deal with are doing well, and the diving is typically phenomenal.
Boy you guys have it rough. Come to the Virgin Islands, lobsters are open season year around. But our size limit is 3.5 inches so they have to be bigger. We eat fresh lobster year around, and the tourists cannot trailer their boats to get here. ;-)
Fire_medic_RescueDiver
Registered
I am from MO when does lobster season close?
I'm not positive, but I think the season is closed year round in Missouri.
Diehl
Contributor
In Florida it Closes in March. Not sure of the day
diverclint10
New
Greetings. I was down in the Marathon area (Valhalla) from August 7th until the 10th. Valhalla is about 3 miles east of Vaca Cut in Marathon on the Atlantic side.
I have not dived in the keys in quite some time (about 10 years or so) and found it to be very disappointing from what I remember. there were quite a few businesses that were shuttered and the water quality was not like it used to be.
As far as bugs, I used to have no problems limited out in a an hour or so, but after working hard on all days, came back with very few bugs. The most productive areas were on the patch reefs. Under the 7 mile bridge, where years ago, you could limit out under one piling the bugs were in meager supply and most that were there were shorts.
On the bay side, there were quite a few areas where the visibility was but a few feet. In other areas, it was OK. Not sure why there was such a difference. On the Atlantic side, the outer reefs seemed to be silted over quite a bit and I noticed quite a few coral heads that were dieing and broken up.
I had a great time, but the keys are not like they used to be.
I have not dived in the keys in quite some time (about 10 years or so) and found it to be very disappointing from what I remember. there were quite a few businesses that were shuttered and the water quality was not like it used to be.
As far as bugs, I used to have no problems limited out in a an hour or so, but after working hard on all days, came back with very few bugs. The most productive areas were on the patch reefs. Under the 7 mile bridge, where years ago, you could limit out under one piling the bugs were in meager supply and most that were there were shorts.
On the bay side, there were quite a few areas where the visibility was but a few feet. In other areas, it was OK. Not sure why there was such a difference. On the Atlantic side, the outer reefs seemed to be silted over quite a bit and I noticed quite a few coral heads that were dieing and broken up.
I had a great time, but the keys are not like they used to be.
If the commercial guys ever go by the wayside and they get this sewer system up and running within the next 3-5yrs, hopefully, me being the eternal optomist, the bugs and marine life will come back to the keys like it once was. I guess we can all only hope, at least for our children.
Similar threads
