August 22, 2018 — At 6 a.m. on a recent Thursday morning, Ernie Piton and his son dragged wooden lobster traps across their dock in Key Largo. They stabbed sharp wires through ripe, glossy fish heads, preparing for the grind of baiting and checking Florida spiny lobster traps. As the fishermen turned the key, rumbling their boat to life, they hoped for a good haul.
Lobster fishing is grueling work, with long hours spent reeling in nearly 300 lobster traps each day. But it’s been the family’s livelihood for 35 years.
Piton sells lobster and stone crab through his family-run operation, Risky Business II. His 21-year-old son, Travis, also depends on this lobster boat for his full-time job.
For the last decade, the Pitons have sold almost exclusively to the Chinese market. During three of those years, they’ve sold lobster through a third-party buyer that works out of Miami, Ocean Dragon Seafood. But since June, the Trump Administration’s trade war with China has threatened their livelihood and that of many Florida fishermen. That comes as many are still recovering from losses during the 2017 hurricane season.