Lobster Trap Losses in the Keys
No tally yet on how many were lost
National Fisherman magazine estimates that in Florida, from a quarter to one half of all lobster traps in the water during Hurricane Katrina were lost.
How that many lost traps will affect future harvests is unknown.
The Miami Herald quoted Ralph Boragine, executive director of Monroe County Commercial Fishermen’s Association, as saying, “Some (lobster)
people lost 75 percent of their business; other people lost 25 percent.”
Though Katrina brushed through Miami as a Category 1 storm, lobster trappers
in the Keys were caught with their gear still in the water. Charlie Renier, a lobster trapper, told the Herald that many trappers believed a NOAA weather report calling for winds of only 20 to 26 knots. “We didn’t expect any of this,” he said. “We left ’em on the hard bottom and we got demolished.”
Indeed, losses to the commercial fishing industry, including shrimpboats, oyster harvest, longline vessels and others, plus the infrastructure, are still being tallied.
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