Florida Lobster Mini-Season Questions & Advise

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

i wonder if you can launch a kayak from the shore & dive from it down in the south keys as a workaround -- would hazard a guess that it should be legal - you aren't diving from the shore - you are launching a kayak from the shore or ramp, paddling out, then diving/snorkeling with your flag. if want to catch anything - would still need the appropriate licenses. difference between a boat & a yak is the yak doesn't have to be registered.
 
i wonder if you can launch a kayak from the shore & dive from it down in the south keys as a workaround -- would hazard a guess that it should be legal - you aren't diving from the shore - you are launching a kayak from the shore or ramp, paddling out, then diving/snorkeling with your flag. if want to catch anything - would still need the appropriate licenses. difference between a boat & a yak is the yak doesn't have to be registered.

The idea is to stop you from lobstering within 300 feet of a seawall or improved shoreline. That type of habitat holds lobsters like nobodies business. Under the Spree right now we have 25 bugs in the 2-3 lb range. The sunken drydock down the channel has hundreds. They are all safe from predation. Especially from me. Folks lobster from their kayak in Hawk Channel all the time. At least they do around Stock Island.
 
Of course many of the waterfront property owners don't abide by that 300' rule, and consider the lobsters "theirs"
 
there are a lot of "habitats" in the florida bay that i've seen - nobody has removed them and it being so shallow they are easy to see. they sometimes hold a lobster or two of legal size. by the letter of the law i thought they should be removed if found or fwc contacted to remove them - but i doubt anyone does.

hmmm... what we need from Wookie then is a "Lobster Cam" while he's docked :) can't catch em but at least can drool over em
 
The Miami Spiny Lobster Tournament..mini season 2013

To all of you that don't like lobster mini season... I have been lobstering in Miami & the Keys for all of my 50 years.. even when i was very young dad would put us in the sears aluminum boat and drag all six sons around to find lobster... now things have changed for sure.. but the three brothers that are left still go out a lobster every mini season... and now I put a lobster tournament on (The Miami Spiny Lobster Tournament ..mini season) ... BUT i agree it is has gotten more dangerous over the years... most deaths are caused by men who think they are still in the twenties and over do it... I agree no lobster is worth your life ... So know your limits, dive with someone you know and trust, make sure you have a good boat captain(i mean someone that will look out for you on top...) Not allow other boat on top of you, keeps track of your down time and most of all will tell you when you had enough and stay out of the water... all that being said... Miami has great spots to lobster from 5ft to 90ft.. find someone who has been lobstering before and help each other out... GOOD LUCK... IF YOU JUST WANT TO SEE BIG LOBSTER COME TO THE WEIGH-IN PARTY July 26th, @ SUNSET TAVERN / DELI LANE CAFE... (305-665-0606) lobster food specials, steel drum band, crab races, 1/2 price drinks & lots of fun... SpinyMike 2012-10-17 18.19.19.jpgDSCN197411.jpgIMG_602111.jpg2 lobster trophy pic.JPG11.jpgIMG_4491.JPG1.jpgIMG_4471.JPG1.jpgIMG_4501.JPG1.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 2012-10-17 .jpg
    2012-10-17 .jpg
    53.4 KB · Views: 404
there are a lot of "habitats" in the florida bay that i've seen - nobody has removed them and it being so shallow they are easy to see. they sometimes hold a lobster or two of legal size. by the letter of the law i thought they should be removed if found or fwc contacted to remove them - but i doubt anyone does./QUOTE]
It was on here or some other board that I remember reading that FWC birddogs casitas and waits for someone to visit them. They can be parked up in the sky in a spotter plane or just watching from a few miles away. Since they have criminal as well as civil powers-of-arrest, the onus of innocence would be on you.
 
thanks for all of the great advice guys, it seems like i'm going to sit this one out

Who says you have to dive to get lobster? I got three legal lobsters from a kayak off Bahia Honda this past February while snorkeling. It was also stone crab season and we got a few claws. I also found a couple of legals in March off the Gulf side of Key West while snorkeling from a kayak. Last August 2012, during the first week of lobster season, I got my largest bug off Key West while on snorkel. I admit we had to throw a lot of undersized lobsters back when snorkeling, but we could stay out all day without worrying about running out of air or decompression times. And if you still want to dive for lobsters, get your certification, get some experience, and then get out there later in the season--there will still be bugs out there.
 
The best way that I can think of to dive during lobster mini season is to NOT dive at all. Not trying to put a damper on your enthusiasim, but it is historically a bit more dangerous as many divers that only dive this one time of the year jump in the water again in a frantic search and capture mode.

I'm with Don on this one and I rarely ever agree with him.
 
I'm with Don on this one and I rarely ever agree with him.

I think the "take-away" is that this is a very bad time for "insta-buddies" , and this is exagerated badly when the divers has not been active for most of the year.....
For those of us that dive alot, who have real buddies, this is an event that can be alot of fun.
 
I got this email from DAN and thought I'd share it. I found the statistics interesting but not surprising.
horizontal_reg.jpg


Between 2005 and 2008, 14 fatalities were recorded in Florida waters during the Lobster Mini Season. Medical conditions (primarily cardiac events), poor diving procedures and equipment problems were common factors. In 2009 DAN teamed up with Reef Ministries and local dive shops to host Revive Your Dive!, a special event designed to help certified divers have free access to scuba refresher training, health and fitness to dive consults as well as equipment maintenance. Since the inception of Revive Your Dive!, the number of fatalities has decreased each year with the 2012 Lobster Mini Season boasting zero divers lost during the two-day season.
If you plan to participate in the lobster diving season this year or would like a general diving assessment, we encourage you to join DAN representatives at Revive Your Dive!, a free two-day event for certified divers where you can take advantage of essential services to ensure you are fully prepared for the season.
All attendees will receive the following free services:

  • A skills refresher course
  • A fitness to dive consultation with a medical specialist from DAN’s Physician Referral Network
  • An equipment inspection
  • Boat safety checks by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Revive Your Dive! will be hosted on July 20-21 at the Florida Keys Visitors Center in Key Largo, Fla., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To learn more visitwww.ReviveYourDive.org.
Dive Safely,

The DAN Team

DAN Is Here For You!

Dive Safe! and if you are in the Keys stop by and meet me at Revive Your Dive!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

Back
Top Bottom