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Stone Crab Season is Back

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on November 24, 2014

One of my favorite times of the year is Stone crab season that occurs from October 15 until May 15. When I return to Marco Island in November, we always have a Stone crab night. My husband and I join our friends for Stone crab, corn on the cob, Cole slaw, and fresh French bread. We always make home made horse radish cocktail sauce, that to me beats hot melted butter and is also lower in calories, fat, and cholesterol. And of course, the meal is ended with the typical Key Lime pie.

It is interesting to see how the Stone crab is caught so we generally go down to the Everglades so we can eat a Grouper sandwich and see the Stone crab cages set to catch the crab.

The amount of Stone crab caught is between 2.0 and 3.5 million each year and is overwhelmingly from the Gulf coast of Florida as opposed to the Atlantic coast. Claws are sold by size, generally in four sizes, medium, large, jumbo, and colossal. Stone crab is also found in western North Atlantic, from Connecticut to Belize. It is also found in Texas, Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the East Coast. They are also found in and around the sea marshes of South Carolina and Georgia.

The interesting fact about the Stone Crab is that it loses its limbs easily, but they can be regrown. The Stone crab is fished near jetties, oyster reefs, or other rocky areas. Crabs are harvested by removing one or both claws from the live animal. It is then returned to the ocean where it can regrow it’s lost limbs.

The price of Stone crab is really astronomical! If you go to a restaurant in the Everglades it is all you can eat for $75 at some of the restaurants. At Joe’s Crab House Restaurant in Chicago the cost is $75 for three jumbo Stone crabs. We always buy ours fresh at the fish market and pay $28 a pound for the large Stone crab. This allows about 6 Stone Crab for each person.
So, if you are a Stone crab fan remember that Marco Island is a great place to go for getting Stone crab. You can buy super fresh seafood including Stone crab at Kirk’s Seafood in Goodland, Florida. Then come back to Marco Island to see the sunset before your meal. It is definitely paradise!