Mini-season draws divers to Keys waters, info booth

All signs point to a busy — if possibly breezy — lobster mini-season in the Florida Keys today and Thursday.

Trailered boats filled U.S. 1 and no-vacancy signs were lit at many resorts by Monday. The Lobster Information Booth, sponsored by state and federal conservation agencies, drew plenty of customers at its Key Largo location outside Divers Direct in Waldorf Plaza.

“People were lined up waiting to talk to us on Saturday,” Nancy Diersing said at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s table.

More than 1,300 people stopped by over the weekend, with another 482 logged by midday Monday. Most divers were checking for updates on lobster laws and verifying no-harvest areas.

“We hear there are bugs here in the Keys and we’ve come to help eradicate them,” smiled Bill Scharber, a two-decade lobster diver from San Antonio, Fla.

“It’s a family-oriented thing for us,” Scharber said. “Our children learned to lobster as kids and now they have their own kids.”

Daryl Duda wanted to know if visiting kids could swim at a friend’s waterfront property in Islamorada. “The kids are in town and they’re excited about being in the water,” he said.

The law in unincorporated Monroe County limits shoreline diving in mini-season but allows property owners to dive at their own waterfront. Islamorada’s ordinance apparently bans use of snorkel gear off residential shorelines during mini-season. Several Keys communities also impose nearshore restrictions on diving in the first days of the regular season that opens Aug. 6.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission kept visiting children at the Lobster Information Booth entertained by introducing them to two juvenile alligators. “It’s been a big attraction,” Officer Bobby Dube said.

The state’s lionfish-awareness team urged divers to remove some of the invasive species while they’re in the water. The Divers Alert Network staff set up a table at the Lobster Information Booth to distribute dive-safety tips and to survey a selection of mini-season divers.

Mini-season for divers ends one hour after sunset Thursday, with bully-netters ending at one minute before midnight.

FWC researchers estimate that in a typical season, the 30,000 mini-season divers believed to be in the Keys capture about 50,000 lobster. The rest of Florida accounts for about 7,000 lobster in the two-day season.

Early arrests

State and local officers issued several citiations for lobstering before today’s start of miniseason.

Deputy Wilfredo Guerra of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office ticketed Cape Coral resident Alexander Sanguinety for spearing an out-of-season lobster around 6 p.m. Friday on the gulfside off mile marker 60.

Miami residents Yasser Benavides-Cabreras, 33, and Yunior Benavides, 41, were charged by Deputy Joshua Baer for taking three out-of-season lobster from Banana Bay Resort’s marina in Marathon around midnight Saturday. Two of the lobster were undersized.

The FWC charged Hialeah residents Carlos A. Yataco Jimenez, 37, and Emilo K. Palma Martinez, 31, with three lobster violations each in a 7:30 a.m. Saturday incident at Tea Table Bridge in Islamorada. Details were pending at press time.

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Mini-season draws divers to Keys waters, info booth."