Stone Crabs are definitely a delicacy and Florida bragging right. Harvested mainly from Florida's southern shores and keys, Stone Crabs are high end at its best and most expensive. They are, however, one of the very few renewable seafood resources. When in season, which is October to May, fisherman break off just the claws at the joints and release the crab to regenerate new claws for next seasons harvest. Stone Crab Claws are easily distinguishable because they have Jet Black tips and are generally pretty large; 1-4ct per pound is common. Although the season runs until May, by Christmas Stone Crab Claws catches start to get very light, and the extremely high demand makes them very hard to find - unless you are in a restaurant in Miami privy to what is available. The claws are always sold fresh and cooked. Fishermen immediately steam or boil the claws and quickly chill them down on ice. Claws left fresh and raw for too long have issues with the meat sticking to the shells when cooked. For the most part, there are not too many elaborate preparations for Stone Crab Claws. They are quite often just steamed to show off their very sweet and firm textured meat.