Ready for more of a Lowcountry delicacy? Shrimp season opens in SC
With the backdrop of a tropical storm that hurriedly formed off the S.C. coast and businesses still affected in varying degrees by coronavirus restrictions, state waters opened to commercial shrimp trawling Wednesday.
The start of the season means shrimp boats can work waters within three miles of shore. State wildlife officials opened provisional areas to shrimpers April 15 — limited space where boats can trawl while protecting female white shrimp who have yet to spawn.
Larry Toomer, owner of Bluffton Oyster Co., worked on the engine of one of his shrimp boats as he spoke by phone Wednesday morning. He said the weather had made things more uncertain as some boats headed out the first day. He declined to speculate on the outlook for the season before it truly began in earnest.
“Overall it’s been good in the provisional areas: decent catches and nice shrimp,” Toomer said.
Retail sales have remained steady during the coranavirus pandemic as people seek out fresh food and cook at home, he said.
State biologists are expecting an average to slightly above average season for shrimpers based on sampling and reported hauls in federal waters offshore and the designated nearshore areas, S.C. Department of Natural Resources fisheries management director Mel Bell said.
Shrimp season opens after coastal scientists believe a majority of white shrimp have spawned. Sweeping up the shrimp too early could limit the number of white shrimp in the fall.
“What started out looking like an accelerated year for spawning activity was likely slowed a bit by the unusually cool water temperatures in April,” Bell said in a release.
The numbers of white shrimp in the spring and their offspring in the fall can fluctuate wildly from year to year depending on water temperature and rainfall. But they are hardy reproducers and can bounce back from a bad year, DNR says.
The catch has been steady since the provisional areas opened in April, said Craig Reaves of Sea Eagle Market in Beaufort. Once commercial trawling opens, most of the shrimp could be caught within days, he said.
Reaves anchored his boat Gracie Belle in the Morgan River on Tuesday night as the storm that would become Tropical Storm Bertha sat offshore. He joined about 20 other boats trawling off of Fripp Island on Wednesday.
Coronavirus wiped out the seafood market’s catering business this spring and the wholesale operation was hit hard for a while with restaurants closed or limited.
But retail sales at the market’s stores in Beaufort, Port Royal and St. Helena Island, as well as the shelves of local grocers such as the Hilton Head Island Piggly Wiggly, have helped offset some of the blow, Reaves said. Wholesale business is picking up as restaurants reopen and tourists return.
“Thankfully we’ve been able to sell all the shrimp we’ve been able to catch since April 15,” Reaves said. “We can sell them as fast as we can catch them. That was a concern for DNR — would we be able to sell them if they allowed us to go to work. We confidently told them we could, and we have.”
