Gifts from the sea
Shrimping the Georgia coast BY VYVYAN LYNN Georgia’s coastline never fails to enchant. A normal drive becomes magical as travelers round a curve and eyes dance across the sun-glazed Atlantic. A step onto the seashore sends calming messages, whispered through rustling palm fronds and craggy oaks—ocean-breeze-chiseled into fine works of art. Shrimp boats appear motionless on a vast breathing body of water poised breathtakingly close to the horizon. To think commerce takes place in paradise seems almost a joke. But, scenery isn’t the only reason to live on or visit the coast. Don’t forget the fresh seafood! Georgia shrimp harvesters work hard to make sure they supply enough “Wild Georgia Shrimp” to satisfy. Moving at only 2 mph when trawling for shrimp, and only achieving speeds of 10 mph, shrimp boats are as much a part of Georgia’s scenic coastline as white-capped waves. Their picturesque form is reminiscent of an ancient and noble profession—fishing—dating back to biblical times. And although the boats seem posed for the idyllic photo, reality is quite different. While beachgoers play or meditate, Georgia shrimpers cast nets to catch Wild Georgia Shrimp so restaurants on the coast and around the state can offer fresh shrimp to patrons. However, restaurant patrons aren’t always served locally harvested shrimp, says John Wallace, president of the Darien-based Georgia Shrimp Association (GSA). Their research shows 94 percent of tourists assume they are eating locally grown shrimp when approximately 80 percent of shrimp eaten on the coast are farm-raised imports. That’s why GSA now provides their Wild Georgia Shrimp logo to be displayed by retailers and restaurants that offer wild-caught Georgia shrimp. Wallace explains that retailers don’t offer Wild Georgia Shrimp as readily as imports because of availability. “There are 1.3 billion pounds of shrimp eaten in the United States per year, and the U.S. industry as a whole only produces about 200 million. “At one time, the food-service industry made an effort to serve domestic product, but over the years found imports easier to obtain. As long as the consumer didn’t complain, they didn’t change suppliers. So, it became apparent that GSA needed an aggressive marketing strategy,” says Wallace. Wild Georgia Shrimp is now marketed as a premium product like Vidalia onions and Georgia peaches. The difference in Wild Georgia Shrimp and farm-grown is the taste and texture. “Farm-raised shrimp are fed one food only for their lifespan, usually something like fish meal. Mother Nature feeds Wild Georgia Shrimp,” says Wallace. “The people who want our product—a better-tasting shrimp—won’t mind paying a dollar or so more per meal.” According to Wallace, Georgia harvests and sells 4 million pounds of shrimp per year. In the past, approximately 70 percent of the harvest went to gulf processors, but that’s another element that has changed. “Our campaign now is to keep the majority of the shrimp in Georgia and selling to Georgia consumers, our loyal customer base,” says Wallace. The Georgia Shrimp Association The Georgia Shrimp Association originated in the 1970s to buffer a congressional regulatory era. Congress began passing environmental laws, calling for closer scrutiny of many commercial industries. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) held the shrimp industry partially responsible for the decline of the sea turtle population. GSA came about as a fair-minded friend. “Our mission has mainly been to make sure regulations that come down are fair,” says Wallace. Today, the GSA has approximately 200 members, and along with being an industry watchdog, it also works diligently to educate the public about the difference in wild-caught shrimp and farm-raised shrimp. The wild-shrimp campaign was adopted to help the U.S. shrimping industry to bounce back from an influx of foreign imports that negatively impacted supply and demand, deflating domestic shrimp prices. There are two facets to the campaign: A national program, Wild American Shrimp, which includes eight Southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, and individual state programs. “The Wild Georgia Shrimp campaign program coordinators define, inspect and certify genuine Georgia shrimp, and market the shrimp as premium seafood,” says Wallace. Shrimping: a way of life A normal day for a Georgia shrimp harvester begins at 4 a.m. “You ready the vessel and try to be on the fishing grounds by daylight, which typically takes about two hours,” says Wallace. The harvester makes a two- to three-hour trawl (drag) for shrimp. Then the catch is dumped onboard by crewmates. Next the process of sorting, heading and icing begins. Georgia shrimp harvesters trawl up to seven miles from the beach. “After that, you’ve gone past the shrimps’ food sources,” says Wallace. “Ninety percent of shrimp are within four miles of the beach.” Some shrimp harvesters in other states stay out on their boats an entire week, but on the Georgia coast, day trips are the norm. Harvesters have one season for white and brown shrimp. (On average, white shrimp, known for a sweet taste, make up about 80 percent of Georgia’s yearly harvest, and brown shrimp make up about 18 percent.) “Typically there is no harvesting done between the middle of January until around May 1 because there is nothing out there,” says Wallace. In colder months shrimp go dormant—into deep holes in the seabed and winter there. “The wintering shrimp are our spring spawning crop,” says Wallace. “Shrimp are prolific spawners. We’ve had freezing winters that killed most of the over-wintering crop so it would not be profitable to shrimp in the spring, but we’d have an overabundance of shrimp in the fall.” Other considerations like sharing the ocean with tourists isn’t much of a bother for shrimp harvesters. “We don’t usually go out farther than sports fishermen, and they look out for us,” says Wallace. But if tourists don’t prove a problem for shrimp harvesters, the sea’s unpredictable nature sometimes does. “The weather has come up fast and caught us off guard, but within an hour we can be in calm water in the sounds and creeks. It’s not like the movie ‘The Perfect Storm.’” Most Georgia shrimp harvesters own and operate their own businesses; multi-generations owning several boats are not uncommon. Wallace’s father, A.M. Wallace, started out in the pulpwood business but gravitated toward the sea. He built three boats for his six sons to operate: The Struggler, a 50-foot beauty named for the struggle it took to build her; Hustler, a 68-foot craft named for the hustle it took to pay for her; and the third, named Gale Force, after John’s wife, Gale. A fourth boat, bought later, is named Wait-n-Sea because “that seems to be what shrimp harvesters do all the time,” quips Wallace. Vyvyan Lynn is an independent journalist from Kite. | 
