Florida Keys · October to May
Stone Crab Season
Stone crab season opens across Florida on October 15 and runs through May 1. In the Keys that date matters twice: once for the crews who drop thousands of traps from Key Largo to Key West, and again for everyone who lines up for the first claws of the year with mustard sauce.
It is the rare fishery where the animal survives the harvest. You take the claw, the crab goes back in the water, and a year or so later it has grown a new one.
Quick Facts
- Season
- October 15, 2026 through May 1, 2027
- Claw size
- 2 7/8 inches minimum, measured from the elbow to the tip of the lower claw
- Recreational limit
- 1 gallon of claws per person or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less
- Traps
- Up to 5 per person, with free FWC trap registration required
- License
- Florida saltwater fishing license unless exempt
- The crab
- Goes back in the water alive, every time
How stone crabbing works
Stone crabs are harvested for their claws only. Keeping a whole stone crab is illegal. A legal claw measures at least 2 7/8 inches from the elbow joint to the tip of the lower, immovable finger, and the crab must be returned to the water alive.
It is legal to take both claws from a crab of legal size, but FWC and most Keys crabbers will tell you to take one. A crab with one claw can still feed and defend itself while the other grows back. A crab with none mostly cannot, and dead crabs do not regrow anything.
Recreational rules worth knowing
If you want to pull your own claws instead of buying them, the short list:
- · Season runs October 15 through May 1. Possession of fresh claws outside the season is prohibited; commercially frozen claws are the exception.
- · Bag limit is 1 gallon of claws per person or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less.
- · No harvest from egg bearing females.
- · Recreational crabbers can fish up to 5 traps each, and traps must be registered with FWC. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes online.
- · Traps need an unobstructed escape ring of at least 2 3/16 inches in a vertical exterior wall.
- · Claws cannot be taken with any device that can crush or puncture the shell. Hands and dip nets are fine if you find crabs while snorkeling.
Where to eat them in the Keys
Opening week is an unofficial holiday down here. Fish houses and seafood counters from Key Largo to Stock Island start moving fresh claws the first day boats come in, and Keys Fisheries in Marathon has turned the season opener into a tradition of its own. Claws are graded medium, large, jumbo and colossal, and prices track the size.
Order them chilled with mustard sauce, crack carefully, and do not let anyone talk you into sharing the colossals.
Why claws cost what they cost
Stone crab is one of the most labor heavy fisheries in Florida. Every trap is dropped, soaked, pulled and rebaited by hand, weather cuts working days out of the calendar, and the yield per trap is small. When claws are expensive it is usually because the catch is thin, not because someone is getting rich.
Want more on Stone Crab Season?
Official details from the organizers, plus Keys Weekly's coverage from the newspaper.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is stone crab season in Florida?
October 15 through May 1, every year. The 2026-27 season opens Thursday, October 15, 2026 and closes May 1, 2027.
Can you take both claws from a stone crab?
Legally yes, if both are at least 2 7/8 inches. But taking one claw is the standard down here, because a one-armed crab survives to grow it back and get caught again.
Do stone crab claws really grow back?
Yes. An adult crab regenerates a lost claw over about a year of molts, which is what makes the fishery renewable when crabs are handled well and returned quickly.
Do I need a license to catch stone crabs?
You need a Florida saltwater fishing license unless you are exempt, and if you fish traps you also need FWC's free recreational trap registration.
Why are stone crab claws so expensive?
Hand-worked traps, weather-shortened seasons and small yields. Prices swing year to year with the catch.
More Annual Events in the Keys
Key West · January
Key West Half Marathon
13.1 miles at sea level, January 15-17, 2027. The race schedule, the course and how to train for wind instead of hills.
Key West · Winter
Mile 0 Fest
A five-day Texas Red Dirt music festival at the end of the road. The 10th anniversary edition lands in early 2027, and badges go fast.
Key West · Late April
Key West Songwriters Festival
Two hundred of the people who actually wrote the hits, playing five days of mostly free shows all over Old Town.
Marathon · March
Marathon Seafood Festival
The Middle Keys fishing fleet cooks its own catch one weekend every March. Five bucks gets you in the gate.