Freediver ready to enjoy the bounty of lobster miniseason that begins Wednesday

As captain of the United States Spearfishing Team, Francisco Loffredi stays busy coordinating the logistics and raising funds for his freedivers to compete in the 2021 Spearfishing World Championship in September in Italy.

But he’ll be taking off time from those duties this week to enjoy Florida’s lobster miniseason.

The annual event, which is Wednesday and Thursday, offers recreational divers the first shot at catching the tasty crustaceans since the recreational and commercial lobster seasons closed on April 1.

Along with the numbers of lobsters and easy access to them in South Florida, the miniseason will have thousands of local scuba divers and freedivers scouring shallow reefs and rockpiles in the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

“First, I love eating lobsters,” said Loffredi, who splits his time between Hollywood and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “I want to catch and cook and have a blast with lobsters.

“Second, miniseason is a celebration of the most well-managed fishery I know of in the world. Where in the world do you have a sought-after species which is so abundant that we have hundreds of commercial boats [that supply] restaurants in Florida and even have enough lobster to export, and then there’s still enough lobsters for recreational divers to get their limit every day? Nowhere in the Caribbean, nowhere in South America, has as much spiny lobster as Florida. I’ve dived remote places in the Caribbean where nobody goes and there’s not close to as many lobsters as there are in Florida.”

And with bugs, as they are known, available in 20 to 30 feet of water off local beaches and even shallower in the Keys, that means freedivers with just a mask, snorkel and fins can have just as much success as scuba divers with their air tanks.

When Loffredi goes with Jim “Chiefy” Mathie of Deerfield Beach, he has no trouble catching his miniseason limit of 12 lobsters along with the rest of the Mathie’s crew.

“It’s not as easy as a tank, but there’s so many lobsters it’ll take me half an hour longer than Chiefy,” he said. “The only advantage is I can do it all day. The guys with tanks eventually run out of air.”

“It’s fun to be out with him and mix it up a little bit,” said Mathie, a retired Deerfield Beach fire chief who is the author of “Catching the BUG: The Comprehensive Guide to Catching the Spiny Lobster,” which is available at local dive stores and at www.chiefy.net. “It makes it a little longer day because we’re doing scuba stuff, too.

“He has an advantage spearfishing because fish don’t hear him. Fish hear you on scuba. Lobster it doesn’t matter, they’re going to stay there whether they hear you or not. When we’re scuba diving for lobster, we’re in the reef, looking in all the nooks and crannies.”

As Loffredi, who can hold his breath for about 90 seconds, swims underwater he looks for lobster antennae sticking out from holes in a reef, as well as prime lobster habitat.

“Since I have less bottom time, I can’t waste my time on stuff that doesn’t seem lobstery,” Loffredi said. “So in a way I have to have a sharper eye.”

He uses a snare to catch lobsters and brings one bug at a time to the surface, where he places it in a mesh bag attached to a float with a dive flag and a line attached to Loffredi’s belt.

One of his favorite ways to cook lobster is a Brazilian recipe called Escondidinho that translates to what Loffredi calls “Hide and Seek Lobster.” Similar to a soufflé, the dish has a bottom layer of yucca puree with a lobster and tomato sauce filling topped with two different cheeses. It won the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea BugFest lobster chef competition in 2019 — last year’s BugFest was canceled by COVID-19 — and Loffredi will be back as a judge at this year’s BugFest cooking contest on Wednesday.

BugFest is Tuesday through Saturday and features The Great Florida Bug Hunt, which awards $10,000 in cash, dive gear and dive trips for those catching lobsters off the beach and from a boat. Divers also get a raffle ticket when they register and one ticket for each bug they catch. The entry fee is $30 and divers can register online at www.discoverlbts.com/bugfest.

Mathie has a free seminar on how to catch and cook lobster from 5-6:30 Tuesday evening at Plunge Beach Resort, followed by a free kickoff party at 7. The bug hunt is Wednesday, with the chef competition and awards from 5-9 p.m. A free concert is 6-9 p.m. Friday on the beach at Plunge Beach Resort to benefit Diveheart, a nonprofit group that teaches scuba diving to people with disabilities. An Anglin’s Pier underwater clean-up dive is Saturday. Visit the website or call 954-640-4209.

After miniseason, Loffredi will again focus on the Spearfishing World Championship, which is Sept. 16-20 in Arbatax, Italy. His team includes former Divers of the Year Andrew Geist of Palm Beach and Miguel “Mojarra” Guinovart of Islamorada, the winningest Florida state spearfishing champion, as well as Spencer Haskin of Hawaii and alternate Nicholas MacLaren of Fort Lauderdale.

The team has a GoFundMe page (www.gofundme.com/f/united-states-spearfishing-team?utm_campaign=p_) to help it reach its goal of $20,000, and is also selling Team USA T-shirts for $25 at www.saltlife.com.

Loffredi said he and his team will go to Italy three weeks ahead of the championship to scout for fish. During the competition, which will have more than two dozen countries, three-man teams dive for two days for five hours each day. Points are awarded for each fish species and its weight, up to 10 kilograms so a diver can’t win with just one huge fish.

“As the captain, I’ll be going back and forth between the three boats making sure everyone’s shooting fish on a certain [spot],” said Loffredi, who is hopeful that his fund-raising and his scouting will pay off with Team USA’s first world title.

LOBSTER SEASONS

The annual lobster miniseason runs from 12:01 a.m. July 28 through midnight July 29. The regular season is Aug. 6-March 31.

LICENSES

You must have a saltwater fishing license ($17 for residents) and a spiny lobster stamp ($5).

LIMITS

The miniseason bag limit is six lobsters per person per day in Monroe County and Biscayne National Park and 12 per person in the rest of the state. The regular-season daily bag limit is six lobsters per person.

LEGAL LOBSTERS

Spiny lobsters must have a minimum carapace length of more than 3 inches and must be measured in the water. Possession and use of a measuring device is required at all times. Lobsters must remain in whole condition while in or on the water. No egg-bearing females may be taken.

OTHER REGULATIONS

Night diving is prohibited in Monroe County during miniseason. Taking lobsters in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is prohibited during miniseason. Harvest is prohibited during miniseason and the regular season in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Spiny Lobster Sanctuary, Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (visit http://floridakeys.noaa.gov) and in the five Coral Reef Protection Areas in Biscayne National Park (visit https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/bnp).

DIVE FLAGS

Dive flags on boats must be at least 20 by 24 inches and have stiffeners to keep the flags unfurled. Dive flags on floats must be a minimum of 12 by 12 inches. Dive flags on boats must be displayed above the vessel’s highest point so the flag’s visibility is not obstructed in any direction. Boats must make an effort to stay at least 300 feet from dive flags on open waters and at least 100 feet from flags in rivers, inlets or navigation channels.

INFORMATION

Visit https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster. To report lobster violations, call Wildlife Alert at 888-404-FWCC (3922).