Florida’s lobster miniseason takes off this week; experts urge safety

The two-day affair known as lobster miniseason starts Wednesday, sending divers on the hunt for the crustaceans and prompting officials to warn of the dangers that come with the hunt each year.

Some experts call it “bug hunting.” The miniseason — always the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday in July — is for residents and visitors to get dibs on the crusty creatures before commercial boats take to the seas Aug. 6 through March 31.

Experts warn to be careful: Last year, one man was airlifted to a hospital after being injured by a boat propeller on the first day of lobster miniseason and two other men died while diving, officials said.

One of the deadliest years was in 2006, when five divers lost their lives. Through the years, about two divers have died each miniseason. In 2018, no divers died.

“Be aware of your surroundings at all times — just assume there’s going to be a lot of people [on the water] this week,” urged Officer Jason Rafter, of the Monroe County division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Nick Casper, vice president of Force-E Scuba Centers, which has four locations in Broward and Palm Beach counties, agreed: “They [the lobsters] move around very quickly and people get anxious because it’s so exciting,” Casper said. That excitement could mean not paying enough attention to air supply or potential hazards on or in the water.

Some of the main rules: State licenses are required for recreational divers ages 16 and older and the lobsters’ carapace, or main shell section, must be at least 3 inches long. Each diver is allowed a 12-lobster limit in Florida, except in Monroe County and Biscayne National Park, where the limit is six per person.

And a request: “Let’s not beat up the coral, please, to get lobsters,” Rafter asks. “Do not anchor on the coral.”

Casper said divers are seeking the thrill of the hunt. The lobsters “haul,” he said, once divers enter the water, and people must be sure to “catch them in a delicate way” to not maim them.

The miniseason was established by the state Legislature in 1974, and was shifted to mid-week in 1992, so as to thin the crowds, Rafter said.

Capt. Tony Coulter of Sunstar Aquatic Services in Deerfield Beach, which takes charters out on the Diversity, said he’s “had to turn quite a few people away” for this season. The seas might be bumpy Wednesday, he said, but “Thursday looks awesome.”

He predicted “thousands of people — if the weather is nice.”

There have been some years, he said, that by 8 a.m. “it looks like you could walk on boats from the Boca Inlet to Fort Lauderdale, there are so many of them out there. Everyone is trying to get their ‘secret spot,’ some place on the reef that supposedly nobody knows about, or get-there-first kind of thing.”

He has a suggestion about what to do with the captured goods.

“I personally like to grill them or boil them like you do a Maine lobster,” he said. “Don’t overcook it, which makes it chewy, or undercook it, which makes it gooey, unless you like sushi.”