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Naples restaurants gear up for start of stone crab season Monday

Thousands of crab traps line the docks at Kirk Fish Co. in Goodland, Fla., on Saturday, May 13, 2017. Stone crab traps must be removed from the water within five days after the close of the stone crab season on May 16.

Red tide concerns in Southwest Florida have restaurant owners a little nervous.

The harvest season for commercial and recreational stone crabs begins Monday and lasts until May 15. The start of stone crab season — the lifeblood for many communities in Collier County — also coincides with the start of a busy season for Naples restaurants as part-time residents from up North start to return to Southwest Florida for the winter.

But it's been a tumultuous summer, with lingering red tide, algae blooms, bacteria, massive fish kills and tropical weather.

More:Hurricane Michael may affect red tide and blue-green algae. Here's how.

More:Everglades City Blessing of the Fleet rebounds after last year's hurricane woes

How will red tide affect stone crab season?

"That's kind of hard to say," said Kelly Ellis, owner of Kelly's Fish House, the longest-operated restaurant in Naples. "You always have to be optimistic."

The restaurant, which opened as the Fish House Dining Room in 1953, gets its bounty from Ellis’ wholesale fishing company, Combs Fish Co., and the fishing fleet tied up at the restaurant's back door.

Before sunrise Monday, his fishermen will head out into the bays and lagoons of southern Collier County, where crabbers were able to set their traps 10 days before the start of harvest season. Boats have been traveling out farther into deeper waters, Ellis said, where red tide might have less impact on the marine life. 

And they'll be back at the restaurant, unloading the pearlescent claws with their shiny black tips, before sunset.

Already, though, red tide has had an effect on crab numbers in Southwest Florida.

Hundreds of dead and dying crabs washed up on Collier and Lee beaches last month, likely killed by toxins and low oxygen levels in the water. Shorelines were littered with crabs of different sizes and species, including blue crabs, Atlantic horseshoe crabs, calico crabs and Cuban mole crabs. 

More:Just ahead of crab season, hundreds wash up dead on Collier, Lee beaches

As for stone crabs, crustacean researchers at the FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute have found that adult stone crabs can experience significant mortality when exposed to high levels of red tide. They are also slow-moving crabs, which means that when the environment changes rapidly, it can be difficult for the species to escape the effects.

In August, FWC researchers collaborated with commercial stone crab fishermen to sample stone crab numbers off the coast of Sanibel, and they found that the crabs there were affected by algae blooms and that the rates were below average, said Michelle Kerr, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Last month researchers caught 147 crabs during a preseason catch at a research site just outside Everglades City, but only 39 claws were at the legal harvest size of 2¾ inches, according to FWC data.

However, southern Collier County seems to have been the least affected by red tide so far, and the FWC stone crab data appear to reflect that.

So some restaurants are hopeful.

"Last year we got hit with Irma, and that disrupted a lot of the crabs. This year it seems to be much better when we asked the fishermen how it looks," said Vin DePasquale, owner of The Dock and Riverwalk restaurants in Naples. "Certainly it’s limited some of the waters they can fish in. They’ll fish and catch in safe waters."

Stone crabs typically start arriving at the restaurants in the midafternoon on the day harvest season starts, DePasquale said. And diners hungry for locally caught fresh crabs are ready for them.

"We buy so much, and when we sell out that day, we're sold out," he said. "And we sell out every day."

Kelly Kirk prepares an order of stone crab claws during the last business day of stone crab season at Kirk Fish Co. in Goodland, Fla., on Saturday, May 13, 2017. The commercial and recreational harvest of stone crab claws in Florida closes on May 16, with the last day of harvest on May 15.

Ellis said stone crab season is an important time for the fishermen, who likely haven't had a paycheck all summer, and the restaurant owners, who often struggle to stay open during the summer.

This summer, particularly, has kept some diners away from restaurants for fear of eating seafood caught from toxin-rich Gulf waters.

Florida's toxic algae crisis:Are Gulf and freshwater seafood safe to eat?

But the reality is most restaurants are sourcing fish from the colder, deeper waters at least 40 miles off the Gulf Coast or from the Atlantic coast.

"We source as far as we can so we’re not affected by the red tide," said Ken Knief, director of restaurant operations for Stoneburner Companies, which operates restaurants in Bayfront, including Stoney's Stone Crab.

"The colder the water, the better the seafood," he said.

The Rev. Tim Navin throws holy water on the Kristin Anne during the Blessing of the Stone Crab Fleet at the Rod & Gun Club in Everglades City on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. The Blessing of the Fleet is a tradition that began centuries ago in Mediterranean fishing communities and is meant to ensure a safe and bountiful season.

Stoney's Stone Crab, which launched late last year, will reopen Tuesday after closing temporarily over the summer. But Knief said there may not be stone crabs at the restaurant until the week of Oct. 22.

"The captains are telling us the season isn’t as abundant as it normally is," he said.

Knief said he isn't worried, though. The new menu at Stoney's Stone Crab also includes a wider selection of salads, sandwiches and a new raw bar and fresh seafood section. The restaurant will also now be open for lunch starting at 11:30 a.m.

"It's not make or break for the restaurant," Knief said. "We're not building the restaurant around stone crab."

More:Florida stone crab season ends after wallop from Hurricane Irma

Crabbers won't know the true effects of red tide on stone crabs until those traps are pulled out of the Gulf on Monday.

"We’re looking forward to it, and we hope it’s here in all its glory," DePasquale said.