Shrimp season gets off to a blustery start Thursday; one man injured

The rain, wind and rough seas Thursday created challenging and dangerous conditions for the start of the shrimp season.

The weather caused one shrimper's boat to capsize while trawling in St. Helena Sound. The commercial shrimper, Earnest Coleman, was in critical condition at Beaufort Memorial Hospital on Thursday afternoon.

Others who went trawling in the sound said there were few shrimp to be found.

Although the sound is not a prime shrimping spot, Craig Reaves of Sea Eagle Market in Beaufort said "it was just too rough" to shrimp in areas he would normally go to, such as Edisto Beach, Fripp or Hunting islands.

"There were a lot of boats (in the sound) and not very much shrimp," Reaves said. "So, we don't know if they buried up or went south."

The poor weather caused shrimpers who dock at Benny Hudson Seafood market on Hilton Head Island to stay at the dock, said Tonya Hudson-DeSalve, market vice president.

"The guys are miserable," she said. "They spent all that time painting and repairing nets and checking engines, and not one boat left the dock. ... I wish I had lot of shrimp coming across the dock, but by Saturday (the weather) should break."

Despite the conditions of opening day, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources anticipates a good shrimp season.

Mel Bell, director of the office of fisheries management, said biological monitoring has shown the resource is healthy and plentiful across the state. He predicts landings will be slightly better than last year and total near 2.5 million pounds, up from 2 million pounds last year.

As long as fuel prices don't skyrocket as they did last year, Bell said landings should improve.

Across the state, there are about 400 licensed trawlers, Bell said. In the 1980s, the number of commercial shrimpers in South Carolina hovered around 1,500 trawlers, Bell said.

Over the years, several factors have led to the decline of the shrimping industry, including competition with cheap imports, high fuel prices, rising boat maintenance expense and less dock space near preferred fishing zones, Bell said.

"The past couple years, the ones that are still with it managed to endure the prices and all last year," Bell said. "We are just hoping for a good year. From a resource standpoint, the resource looks healthy overall. It's there. It's just a matter of them working through all the factors."