Port Royal will continue shrimp dock operations, looks for sustainable model
Charles Abner is still docked in Port Royal, finishing some work on his 73-foot shrimp trawler, “Lady Bernice,” before going to work as shrimp season begins.
Abner plans to offload most of his shrimp at Benny Hudson Seafood on Hilton Head Island, where he said the money is a bit better. He also likes likes to offload in North Carolina and Georgia, where he said docks will front shrimpers fuel and ice.
“I love the conditions over there (on Hilton Head),” Abner said Friday. “It’s a whole lot closer to the fishing ground; there’s quite a few other things.
“From time to time, I’ll bring some shrimp into the dock on Port Royal, but it’s not going to be my main place.”
Port Royal wants to keep shrimpers like Abner from going elsewhere, aiming to make the docks off 11th Street on Battery Creek the desired destination in the area.
The town will continue to fund its shrimp dock operations as it explores a sustainable business plan and the idea of a brand-new processing facility.
Town officials last month threatened to close the docks, which have largely operated at a loss for years. But they will continue to try to keep it open as shrimping season gets underway.
The town’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year includes $300,000 for the docks, down from the $500,000 budgeted last year.
If losses continue, Town Council is prepared to yank the plug.
“Either we’re going to do it right, or we're going to get rid of it,” Councilman Tom Klein said.
Newly minted Councilman Jerry Ashmore, with town manager Van Willis, met with officials from Clemson University, the Sea Grant Consortium and Bluffton Oyster Company’s Larry Toomer to discuss ways to improve operations.
Toomer told them what they already know — that Port Royal seems to be an ideal location for shrimpers to get in and out, with its deep water and easy access from Port Royal Sound. He noted the trip required to get his catches up the May River for offloading and back again.
But those catches directly feed a restaurant and retail operation, Ashmore said, a lifeline Port Royal’s docks don’t currently have.
For success in Port Royal, boats need to be out working and more local restaurants buying the product, he said.
“You can’t beat our location,” Ashmore said. “We think it’s important to our history and our community.”
The town is also eying a brand-new seafood processing facility with part of the $1.8 million insurance money paid after the July 2015 fire that burned the seafood market and adjacent warehouse. The S.C. Ports Authority, which owns the property, has said the payout is too much, Willis said.
With the new facility could come a commercial shrimp processing machine. A large ice machine lost in the fire has been replaced by insurance money.
Abner said such a facility would change his mind about Port Royal.
“Oh, yeah, in a heartbeat,” he said. “I would operate from here entirely. But you’ve got to have a decent price here.”
Sept. 25, 2015 No one would have predicted the demise of the Lowcountry's most iconic industry just a few decades ago. The problem isn't that there are fewer shrimp off the SC coast. And it isn't that demand for shrimp is down. Rather, rising local prices and competition from foreign sources are driving local shrimpers out of the business. | READ
Stephen Fastenau: 843-706-8182, @IPBG_Stephen
This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Port Royal will continue shrimp dock operations, looks for sustainable model."