Fishermen are still pulling traps in the final two weeks of stone-crab season, but early indications suggest a step toward a return to normal harvests.

"Late-season production has stepped up which could bring us close to a number in the range of a normal season," Bill Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen's Association, said Tuesday.

Stone-crab season opens Oct. 15 and closes May 15.

Last season's commercial harvest of a reported 1.9 million pounds of claws (the only part of stone crabs harvested) was the lowest on record, said Tom Matthews, research scientist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in Marathon.

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