How much will Florida stone crabs cost this season? Restaurants, fish markets make predictions

Florida’s stone-crab season kicks off Sunday, Oct. 15, which means claws should officially land on restaurant, fish market and wholesaler menus by Monday, Oct. 16.

Nashville does hot chicken, New Orleans has gumbo, and New York slings pizza. But in South Florida, our specialty is the sweet crustacean delicacy known as stone crabs.

Florida’s stone crab season officially kicks off Sunday, Oct. 15, which means claws will land on restaurant, fish market and wholesaler menus by Monday, Oct. 16.

But here’s the big question: How much will stone crabs cost next week? South Florida crabbers think market prices may mirror the tail end of last season instead of opening higher than normal, as was the case both in 2021 and 2022.

Brian Hershey, owner of Billy’s Stone Crab in Hollywood, says he charged $35 for a pound of mediums, $48 for larges, $68 for jumbos and $75 for colossals last May. He’s optimistic about claw hauls this weekend because no hurricanes over the past few weeks have battered around the stone-crab population off Florida’s coast. Temperatures are expected to dip this weekend and the cooler water “gets the crabs walking right into traps,” he says.

“I’ve only seen really good reports so far,” says Hershey, who operates two Florida Keys fisheries, one on Summerland Key at Mile Marker 25 and one in Marathon near the Seven Mile Bridge. He also sources crabs from a supplier in Hernando Beach, north of St. Petersburg. “They peeked at some test traps in Hernando, and it’s looking strong.”

Stone crabs will be on the menu and packed on ice when his restaurant opens at noon Oct. 16, Hershey adds.

Seasoned stone crab aficionados know that pent-up demand always drives up claw prices in the opening weeks, especially now that the season is two weeks shorter. Since 2020, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has abbreviated the season to May 1 to prevent overfishing and protect future crab quantities after years of declining harvests.

For the uninitiated, stone crabs are said to resemble Olympic bodybuilders with reddish-brown tans, but only the claw meat — served cold or steamed, ideally with mustard sauce or drawn butter — is edible. They come in four sizes with few exceptions: mediums (the most common), large, jumbo and colossal, the most expensive.

And they’re a $34 million industry, with 2.11 million claws harvested statewide in 2022, according to Florida Fish & Wildlife’s most recent commercial landings data. The first half of 2023, through May 1, pulled in another 899,063 pounds.

At the end of last season, Clay Brand, owner of Captain Clay and Sons Seafood Market in Delray Beach, charged $30 for mediums, $46 for larges, $56 for jumbos and $70 for colossals. He agrees that prices should remain in the same ballpark.

“I’m feeling pretty optimistic,” Brand says. “If we have one of those bumper crop years, and it looks like that now, prices will be stable.”

Florida’s stone crab season will run through May 1, 2024.