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Archive for October 20th, 2006

Hooray for Florida stone crabs!

If you like seafood, and you live in Florida (or at least visit on a regular basis), this may be one of your favorite times of the year — stone crab season. Between Oct. 15 and May 15, it is legal to harvest stone crabs from Florida’s waters, and they sure are good.

Actually, to be more accurate, it is legal to take stone crab CLAWS — it is not legal to keep the whole stone crab. You can trap the stone crab, pop off the claws if they are of legal size (”pop off” sounds a whole lot better than “tear off”, doesn’t it?) and then return the crab to the water. Stone crabs can regenerate their claws, and many do so four or five times over the span of their lives.

You can’t take females with eggs, and the claws have to be at least 2 3/4 inches across. It is legal to take both claws if they are of legal size, but many experts believe it is better to take just one, since the crab’s chances for survival are much better if one of the claws remains.

Every year at this time, Frenchy’s restaurants on Clearweater Beach (there are four of them) host a big stone crab festival. Frenchy’s Saltwater Cafe and Rockaway Grill (two of the four Frenchy’s restaurants) will have tents set up outside, and the live music will be throbbing and the beer will be flowing.

This will be Frenchy’s 22nd annual Stone Crab Weekend. It runs between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. today through Sunday. You can learn more at their website, www.frenchysonline.com.

We don’t have a review of any of the Frenchy’s restaurants on our website yet, but I think the stone crab festival will be a good excuse to do one.

Tags: pinellas county, stond crabs