Yesterday marked the opening of the crawfish season, a lucrative business that can bring a sizable catch if fishermen are spared the ravages of another storm, like Hurricane Matthew which damaged or swept away more than 800 traps.

Several Bahamian fishermen shared their excitement about the crawfish season hoping another storm won’t put a “hole in their pockets.”

Last year’s category five storm has caused “plenty hurting to our fishing industry,” as fishermen Samuel Kelly puts it during an interview with The Bahama Journal on Monday.

“It moved a lot of our traps. It moved them so we couldn’t find them no more. It break up [traps] a lot too. So we had to put down some more,” Kelly recalled.

Even Silas Higgs can attest to Hurricane Matthew’s “crippling affect” on the fishing industry.

“It moved a lot of our traps. It moved them so we couldn’t find them no more,” Higgs revealed.

As Higgs goes out to fish, he will now have to drop traps to replace those he lost last year.

Learning from the mistakes of last year’s hurricane season, these fishermen said they’ll be taking better precautions.

“We’ll be aware so we know what to do. Either come in the port or stay out,” Kelly warned.

Higgs advice is “the best thing you could do about that is when you hear it [hurricane] travelling and it depends on how far it is from us, you gotta roll out. Get to safety. We live far from our family so have to go home and make preparation.”

Despite the lost in profit, last year still proved to be successful year for both of men. Higgs made about $300 and he is feeling optimistic about this season.

“I believe this season will be good because last year was good. It might be as good as last year, but it’s still gone be good.”

Kelly further validated Higg’s point – “It’s looking good so far. When we checked our traps it was full.”

For those who are unfamiliar with the rules of harvesting crawfish, catching undersized crawfish is not allowed.

The minimum size limit for whole crawfish is of three and a quarter inches carapace length. The minimum legal size limit on the crawfish tail is five and a half inches in length

All fishermen are required to have a measuring gauge to ensure that they are able to confirm full compliance with the legal size requirements

The crawfish season closes March 31.