The Rise and Fall of SC Shrimping – And What You Can Do About It
September 12, 2013
By Bryan Tayara, Co-Owner, Our Local Catch Sustainable Carolina Seafood
Bryan and his wife Lindsay run their statewide, sustainable seafood business, Our Local Catch, from their home base in Florence, SC, where they recently started the Pee Dee chapter of Slow Food U.S.A. A Johnson & Wales grad who has cooked at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, Bryan is the scion of the family behind Orangeland Seafood in Florence.
On Thursdays from 1pm-6pm in the Rosewood Market parking lot, they sell their addictive smoked trout spread, amberjack burgers, fresh clams, fresh NC rainbow trout and a variety of whatever’s fresh from the coast. They’ve just started making coconut tandoori wahoo jerky and spicy amberjack chorizo. So cool. Check them out!
One of the most insanely delicious and unforgettable memories I have from my childhood is enjoying a huge steaming pot of Frogmore Stew with my extended family at a beach house in Murrells Inlet, SC. Fresh corn on the cob, small red potatoes, and huge chunks of spicy sausage simmered in a rich broth made with blue crab shells and Old Bay seasoning all combine their unique flavors, much like instruments in a symphony, to support the star: sweet and succulent Carolina Shrimp.
This wasn’t a fancy affair. Picnic tables were lined with yesterday’s newspapers and paper plates were smeared with cocktail sauce and piled high with shrimp shells and lemon peels. Is there a more authentic coastal Carolina tradition?
Better Living Through Shrimping
When the first shrimp-packing house opened in Port Royal, South Carolina in 1924, our great state became notorious for amazing shrimp and a booming industry. Many young men were becoming shrimpers because it promised a good living for a growing family. Fuel costs were low, demand was high, and farmed shrimp from overseas wasn’t a threat in the least.
The Decline of the Southern Shrimping Empire
Since 1995, the SC shrimping industry has fallen into steep decline due to increased operation expenses such as fuel and insurance, and overwhelming overseas competition is driving profits into the plough mud.
Today, nearly 90% of all seafood, including shrimp, consumed in the United States is imported, and the FDA inspects less than 1% of it. Most of this imported seafood is unsustainably farmed in ponds in China, India, Indonesia, and Thailand that are unregulated, utilize harmful chemicals, and implement poor working conditions that produce a substandard product that is harmful to the environment and to our health.
Our local shrimp industry has been reduced to less than 50% of what it once was, and many shrimp docks have sold their boats and closed their doors.
Supporting SC’s Shrimping Culture
So, what can be done to save our shrimpers and revitalize authentic coastal Carolina traditions? The answer is very simple: demand local seafood! Demand it from your local restaurants, your local grocery stores and choose it for your next family gathering.
Be proud of the seafood heritage that shaped our Lowcountry into the culture-rich paradise that it is, and by all means celebrate it. Long live the Frogmore Stew!
We recently published a classic, easy recipe for Frogmore Stew here.
This weekly food column is curated by Tracie Broom, who serves on the board at Slow Food Columbia (http://www.slowfoodcola.org), publishes The Yum Diary, and is a founding partner at Flock and Rally: Events + Communications for a Brave New South. Follow her at @theyumdiary on Twitter.
