Stone crab, continued 



tend to have larger claws and are therefore more likely 

 to be harvested by the fishery. Male stone crabs are 

 recruited into the fishery during theirthird year, andean 

 live to at least 8 years (Restrepo 1989). Most crabs 

 with legal-sized claws in Florida are 3 or 4 years old 

 (Sullivan 1979). Both claws can be removed if they are 

 legal size, but it is illegal to remove claws from a gravid 

 female (Bert pers. comm.). 



Southwest Florida is the major area of commercial 

 harvest in the U.S. (NOAA 1985), although landings 

 are also reported from South Carolina, Texas, Louisi- 

 ana, Mississippi, and northwest Florida (Bert 1992). 

 Stone crab fisheries also exist in the Caribbean, and 

 landings have been reported from Cuba, Mexico, and 

 the Dominican Republic (Fischer 1978). Florida has 

 kept fishery statistics since 1 962 (Williams and Felder 

 1 986). In 1 990, the Florida fishery reported landings of 

 1,225 metric tons, with a dockside value of over $15 

 million (Restrepo 1992). The stone crab fishery has 

 been ranked as Florida's eighth most valuable (Adams 

 and Prochaska 1992). Recent dockside prices have 

 been near $4.75/lb for medium and $7.50/lb for jumbo 

 claws (Newlin 1993), and consumer demand contin- 

 ues to be strong. Most of the claws harvested in Florida 

 are marketed fresh or frozen and consumed locally. 

 The same appears to be true of the Texas fishery, 

 although some Texas claws are transported to meet 

 increasing demand in Florida (Landry 1 992, Tobb pers. 

 comm.). Catches along the Texas coast are primarily 

 incidental to the blue crab fishery (Stuck 1 987, Landry 

 1 992, Pattillo pers. obs.). Texas reported 39,000 kg of 

 gulf stone crab claws landed in 1 992, about one fourth 

 of which came from the Galveston region (Newlin 

 1993). The prospect of a limited fishery in Barataria 

 Bay, Louisiana, and the lower Mississippi Sound and 

 adjacent nearshore waters has been studied and is 

 considered feasible if regulations are enacted to pre- 

 vent overharvest and minimize gear conflict (Horst and 

 Bankston 1986, Stuck 1987, Stuck 1989, Baltz and 

 Horst 1 992). However, it has been suggested that only 

 a fairly low percentage of the available stone crab 

 claws in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Mississippi) 

 would be of legal size, i.e. >70 mm propodus length 

 (Perry et al. 1995). 



In the south Florida stone crab fishery, stationary traps 

 made of wood, plastic, or wire are baited with fish 

 scraps, deployed on the bottom and marked with a 

 buoy, and checked every few days for crabs (Overbey 

 1992). According to Florida regulations, claws must 

 have a propodus length of >70 mm (2.75 in) to be legal 

 for harvest, and commercial stone crabbers must have 

 a Saltwater Products License (GSMFC 1993). Legal 

 size is generally attained by males at approximately 80 

 mm carapace width (CW), and by females at 90 mm 

 CW (Simonson 1985, GSMFC 1993). This minimum 



size is intended to allow crabs to reproduce at least 

 once before being vulnerable to the fishery. Egg- 

 bearing females are protected, and the fishery is open 

 from mid-October to mid-May (Ehrhardt et al. 1990, 

 GSMFC 1 993, NOAA 1 993). Similar regulations apply 

 in offshore federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico as well 

 (GMFMC 1996a). The Florida stone crab fishery is 

 spatially separated from the pink shrimp trawl fishery to 

 minimize gear conflict (Overbey 1 992). In Texas, only 

 right claws with propodus length >63 mm may be 

 harvested, and the possession or sale of ovigerous 

 (sponge) crabs and left claws is prohibited (GSMFC 

 1993). 



Recreational : Many of the Florida permit holders can 

 be considered recreational because their harvest is for 

 home consumption, but the total recreational harvest is 

 probably much smaller than the commercial (GMFMC 

 1978, Zuboy and Snell 1982, Lindberg and Marshall 

 1 984, NOAA 1 985). Some of the recreational harvest 

 is with gear similar to the commercial fishery, i.e., crab 

 traps, and a Saltwater Products License is required to 

 use traps (GSMFC 1 993). Stone crabs are also taken 

 by hand or dipnet while wading or diving (GMFMC 

 1978, Williams 1984), or removed from their burrows 

 with a hook attached to a long handle (Savage et al. 

 1 975). In offshore federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 recreational regulations include a 2.75 in (70 mm) 

 minimum claw size, closed season from mid-May to 

 mid-October, and prohibition of claw removal from 

 egg-bearing females (GMFMC 1996b). 



Indicator of Environmental Stress : Stone crabs are not 

 typically used in studies of toxicity, bioaccumulation, 

 and environmental stress. 



Ecological : Stone crabs have a large claw adapted for 

 crushing shells, and are formidable predators of mol- 

 luscs. They are known to prey on juvenile oysters on 

 reefs. The burrows of gulf stone crabs in mud flats 

 remain filled with seawater at low tide, and can provide 

 a unique intertidal refuge for small fishes and other 

 organisms (Powell and Gunter 1968). 



Range 



Overall : The Florida stone crab occurs from North 

 Carolina around peninsular Florida to the Big Bend 

 region, and also in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, the 

 Yucatan peninsula, and Belize. The gulf stone crab 

 occurs in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida's Big Bend 

 region westward through Texas to Tamaulipas in north- 

 ern Mexico (Williams and Felder 1986). The two 

 species co-occur and are known to hybridize in the Big 

 Bend region of northwest Florida. 



Within Study Area : Within U.S. estuaries of the Gulf of 

 Mexico, the Florida stone crab occurs from Florida Bay 



110 



