Southeast Florida & Key Largo lobster reports

[Cisconius]

Went back out this weekend.

On Saturday, caught 3 bugs, all too small.

Had better luck on Sunday where I got 4 bugs, 2 of which were legal.

Still searching for the honey hole.

 

[sportxlh]

Saturday in Jupiter, caught one very large bug at 'The Bluffs' site a few hundred feet to the east of thbe main ledge area. Also fished out several shorts. One other diver on JDC's boat caught a single legal bug as well. Everyone else hunting struck out. Area 51 was covered with shorts: probably saw a dozen on the main ledge or within 50 feet of it.

 

[reefman]

absolutely magnificent day on the water offshore key largo this SATURDAY(10/18/2014). zero wind, gin clear water, we could actually see lobster antennae protruding from coral heads cruising the patch reefs. only took a few hours snorkeling to limit with two friends from OHIO(spiny lobster catching rookies!). reef tract about 2 miles inside the elbow and Watson reefs, water depth 6-12 FT, temp 82-83F. lobsters not great size(except for 3) but numerous,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


reefman
key largo

 

[scubafool]

Looks like the Ohio newbs ate well last night!

 

[FLNativeGuy]

Report off of Sea Ranch Lakes today (10-19-14).

Calm seas, vis estimated 70 to 75 ft. Just after we dropped and got on the bottom, I saw and caught one lobster at 52 ft. No other lobsters observed. Had a nurse shark follow and circle us the rest of the dive (obviously with eyes on the lobster hotel). There was no way he was taking that bug from me.

The water temperature below was 77degrees.

 

[Chugwhump]

Two tank trip off of Pompano today.
6 pack boat.
Between 6 divers, about 20 bugs came up.
Eggers are still around.
No shorts.

Chug
Bought the calendar, and you should too.
Killer Sirens 2015 Calendar | OceanLoveHer

 

[FLNativeGuy]

The link below is a 10 year assessment report on spiny lobsters (2002 through 2011) conducted by the National Park Service in Biscayne bay.

Interesting data. But it shows a declining trend in the amount of bugs caught over the ten year time period; which NPS says could be nothing more than environmental conditions (i.e. Rough seas, etc). They also report that the commercial catch appears to be stable, which at least in my understanding, seems to be better news.

http://www.nps.gov/bisc/naturescience/upload/Biscayne-Lobster-Mini-Season-10-year-Report_FINAL.pdf

 

[Chugwhump]

As far as the commercial catch goes,
I saw a commercial lobster boat working pots just south of Hillsboro Inlet this past Sunday.
I have not seen a lobster boat off of Broward for 20 years, but I know they showed up a few years ago.
I have no issue with the commercial boats for the most part, until they start annihilating the near shore stag horn coral in the shallow end of the pool.
They also are sometimes guilty of setting their pots in such a manner of tagging them together in a line and the lines whip-saw the reef like a garrote.
And that is illegal, but FWC pretty much ignores the practice.
actually, for the most part FWC ignores the lobster fishermen.
But I do not, when they are behaving poorly.
It is illegal to take lobster from a pot.
The term "Ghost Trap" is used for a pot that has lost its line and float, whereupon they be one black holes of death for not only lobster but fish life and such.
All pots are supposed to have a yearly tag on them as there is a limited amount of tags available.
The tag is supposed to be placed in a very particular position on the pot.
If the pot is not tagged, it is a "pirate pot".
It is not unknown for some lobster fishermen to "Mix in" some untagged pots.
And that's not cool.

Chug
Shares the sea happily with those who play by the rules.

 

[FLNativeGuy]

I did a bit more research on our spiny lobster friends and the unfortunate declining numbers.

According to Sea Grant Florida, commercial fisherman "landed approximately 7 million lbs of lobster per year up to 2001." Then the numbers changed abruptly, dropping to 4 million lbs per year over the last 10 years.

It seems the change could be associated with a virus named PaV1 which is killing our favorite bugs. Some research indicates that the virus becomes more infectious or prevalent with warmer water temperatures; something that they believe could be related to rising sea temperatures.

Some interesting news too. I also ran across some studies indicating that aqua culturing these bugs has some viability, although most aqua culture has been done outside the USA (Vietnam and other areas).

Lastly, as I was finishing up a review of one of the studies, the local news comes on and reports some knucklehead was arrested for illegally harvesting a bunch of undersized lobsters in the Keyes! Worse yet, they reported that it was the second time he was busted for the same offense!

 

[reefman]

$1.4M Bond for Miami Man Arrested for Lobster Violations | NBC 6 South Florida


reefman
key largo