On a menu in Miami or Naples, where does a Florida stone crab claw start out? There's a good chance it came through Marathon. Keys Weekly reported in 2025 that the Florida Keys produce about 40% of the state's stone crab harvest, roughly 2 million pounds a year. The same report named Keys Fisheries in Marathon as Florida's largest processor.
The 2026–27 season opens Thursday, Oct. 15, and runs through May 1, 2027. Elsewhere in Florida, stone crab gets treated as a restaurant splurge. In Marathon the industry is local. The claws come off boats that work these waters, get graded and cooked on Gulfview Avenue, and sell at counters a short drive from most homes in town. That shapes everything from where to buy to how the rest of the month fills up.
The Processor Is Down the Street
Keys Fisheries sits at 3502 Gulfview Ave., on the Gulf side of Marathon. Its restaurant is listed as open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The local phone number is 305-743-4353. Through its seafood business it sells fresh claws in season, and jumbo claws are on its list of restaurant specialties.
Its menu says the claws come straight from its own boats. They're sold in three grades, jumbo, large and select, at market price during the Oct. 15 to May 1 window. The menu doesn't post a fixed price, and that fits a product priced off the day's catch. A claw bought here on a weeknight in late October has traveled about as short a route as a stone crab claw can, from trap to boat to processor to plate.
The Florida Keys tourism council's stone crab guide also names Keys Fisheries as a major processor and a past host of a claw-eating contest. That contest is back this year, with a date on the calendar. More on it below.
Cold Claws, Hot Claws and a Market Counter
Most people picture stone crab served cold with mustard sauce. Keys Fisheries' menu offers claws hot after 5 p.m. for a $1 add-on. If you've only ever had them chilled, a dinner visit is an easy way to try the other version.
On the Overseas Highway, Fish Tales Market & Eatery at 11711 Overseas Hwy. calls itself a fish house and restaurant selling local seafood, and stone crab claws are on its market list. Its posted hours are 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Those Saturday hours matter for weekend planning. Anyone hoping to pick up claws for a Saturday evening gathering should get there before mid-afternoon.
Keys Fisheries | Fish Tales Market & Eatery | |
|---|---|---|
Address | 3502 Gulfview Ave. | 11711 Overseas Hwy. |
Listed hours | Daily, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. | Weekdays 11 a.m.–7:30 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.–3 p.m. |
Claw details posted | Jumbo, large and select at market price; served hot after 5 p.m. for $1 extra | Stone crab claws on the market list; no price posted |
Neither business has announced an opening-day special for Oct. 15, so check the price at the counter. The first days of a season often set the tone for the weeks after.
The Same Rules Apply at the Dock Out Back
Canal and waterfront homes are common across Marathon, so plenty of owners can drop a few traps from their own dock or skiff. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sets the recreational limits.
- Traps: up to five per person.
- Registration: free and annual, required for anyone 16 or older.
- Bag limit: one gallon of claws per person or two gallons per vessel, whichever is less.
- Claw size: at least 2 7/8 inches.
- Escape rings: wood or plastic traps need a 2 3/16-inch escape ring set in a vertical exterior wall. FWC adopted that placement rule for the 2024–25 season onward.
The escape-ring rule is the one most likely to catch a returning owner off guard. Traps rigged before 2024 may have the ring in the wrong spot. The full regulations and the registration link are on FWC's stone crab season notice.
The commercial fleet and the backyard trap work toward the same thing. The size limit keeps both inside the same rules. It's also why every claw at the Gulfview Avenue counter, whatever its grade, has cleared the same minimum as the one pulled from a canal behind a house on Grassy Key.
The First Big Night of the Season Falls on Halloween
Opening day has no ceremony this year. The season's first public event comes 16 days later. Keys Fisheries has posted its 2026 Stone Crab Eating Contest for Saturday, Oct. 31. Entry is $75 for one contestant or $150 for a team of two. The listing doesn't give a start time yet. Anyone planning to compete or watch can call Keys Fisheries at 305-743-4353 for details.
The contest has a track record. Keys Weekly covered the 14th annual competition in November 2025. It drew 50 contestants, locals took the top spots, and proceeds went to Florida Keys Hope Walk. If the count continues, this year's would be the 15th. Keys Fisheries' 2026 listing doesn't name a beneficiary, so the cause may or may not be the same.
Halloween puts the contest on the same night many families have other plans. That makes the earlier Halloween-season events in town useful for spreading the month out.
An October Calendar That Runs on the Water
Stone crab season isn't the only water-driven event this month. Two fishing tournaments, a sunset celebration on a historic bridge and two Halloween events fill out October. Most of them are tied to the same docks and channels the crab boats use.
Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
Oct. 8–12 | Marathon Offshore Swords and Stripes Tournament | Swordfish and wahoo divisions |
Sat., Oct. 10 | America 250 sunset celebration | Old Seven Mile Bridge, 5–7:30 p.m., free |
Thu., Oct. 15 | Stone crab season opens | Runs through May 1, 2027 |
Sat., Oct. 17 | Witches in the Hammock | Crane Point Museum & Nature Center, 5550 Overseas Hwy., 8 a.m.–5 p.m. |
Fri., Oct. 23 | Trick or Treat at the Beach | 5:30–7 p.m. |
Oct. 23–24 | Marathon Fire Rescue Wahoo Tournament | Proceeds benefit Marathon Fire Rescue |
Sat., Oct. 31 | Keys Fisheries Stone Crab Eating Contest | $75 single, $150 team of two |
The Oct. 10 sunset celebration needs the most planning. Monroe County, the Tourist Development Council and the City of Marathon are hosting it for the nation's 250th anniversary. The program includes live music from the Pierce August Band, Caribbean-inspired appetizers from Marathon High School's culinary team and a sunset toast with Grimal Grove juices. Sunset is about 7:05 p.m. There's no parking at the bridge. Free parking is available at the Pigeon Key trolley lot at the city's 7 Mile Marina, and vans will run from the 33rd Street/Stanley Switlik parking area. You can also walk in from Knights Key under the bridge.
That Saturday also falls in the middle of the Swords and Stripes Tournament, so expect more boat traffic and busier marinas than a typical early-October weekend. The Trick or Treat at the Beach listing on the city's event calendar doesn't say which beach, so confirm the location before you go.
Put together, the month moves from the bridge to the tournaments to the first claws of the season, and it closes on Gulfview Avenue on Halloween night, at the same dock where many of those claws first come ashore.
Mallory Pinto grew up in Marathon, so stone crab season is part of how she sizes up a waterfront property: whether the dock can handle a few traps, how the canal runs out to open water, and how a home works for owners who want to spend October on the water. If you're thinking about a canal-front home or a second home in Marathon with that kind of season in mind, Keys Ocean Realty would be glad to walk you through it. Schedule a Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
