Stone crabbers claim beach project destroyed 800+ traps worth $400K

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK) — Local stone crabbers say hundreds of their traps lay ruined on the Gulf floor, and now they're taking the fight to court.

Stone crabber Robert Buscher said his crew showed up and set their traps, but about three weeks later, a beach renourishment project arrived with all their equipment. Right around Christmas, during the Bonita Beach renourishment, the tug boats and drag barges went through and cut off hundreds of traps, Buscher said.

With no way to pull them to the surface, half the stone crab season was lost unless crabbers moved their traps fast enough and got out of the way. Buscher said he lost nearly 200 stone crab traps in the Gulf, but more than 800 still remain down there.

Stone crabber Vincent Montella tried to alter the outcome by asking the contractor to alter the tugs' course, but they refused. Since they refused to move the gear and kept operating in that area, Montella said crabbers had no choice, as the contractor was going to wipe out all their gear.

The total claim is now more than $400,000 and keeps getting bigger every month, Montella said. He said the issue extends beyond money.

"That marine life goes into that trap," Montella said. "It basically dies and becomes bait for the next round. So it's a trap that continues to kill indefinitely, until that plastic wears out. And we could probably talk to scientists that'll say the plastic will last 3,000 years from now."

Montella said he contacted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which was very concerned, but at the end of the day, it came down to working with the contractor. Weeks Marine is being defiant and saying they're not paying no matter what, Montella said.

For Buscher, the lawsuit is about survival. Crabbers have families to feed, and for most stone crabbers who depend solely on stone crabbing, the loss is devastating, Buscher said.

"We're a dying breed out here," Buscher said.