Port Royal begins rebuilding 30-year-old dock. Move shows renewed commitment to shrimping
For more than 30 years, shrimpers who trawled the local waters at dawn ended their day by dropping off their catch at the Port Royal shrimp docks on Battery Creek. The sea bounties were processed in a small on-shore facility and sold to area restaurants.
But in recent years, the old dock and the trawlers tied to it became an eyesore. The old dock no longer was considered safe, and many of the lingering vessels either weren’t running or were abandoned. Some even sank.
O’Quinn Marine Construction, hired by the town for $130,000, is now tearing down the Battery Creek landmark, piling by piling and plank by plank. But the scuttling of dock isn’t the end but rather a new beginning for shrimping and fishing and seafood processing, which have deep roots in northern Beaufort County.
“It’s a first of several steps to reestablish fishing and shrimping as a iconic industry in Port Royal,” Van Willis, the town’s manager, said of the dock removal.
A new dock and processing facility for fisherman and shrimpers are now being planned to replace the old facilities that had been in place since 1989. Over the past two years, the State Legislature has allocated the town $2 million for the work.
“Reconstruction of the dock and processing facility will cement our commitment to those industries in northern Beaufort county,” Willis added.
The town got involved with running the dock and processing facility in 2006 in an attempt to maintain the local industry and the area’s important shrimping heritage afloat. But it ended up losing some $300,000 over the ensuing years in the process. So in 2021, operations were suspended. Over the past year, it’s worked have the old boats cleared from the area, in some instances going to court to get it done, all in order to get a fresh start.
The new dock will be in the general facility of the old dock, Willis said, but configuration is still being worked out. The town has a permit for a dock design but Willis says it’s being revisited in order to come up with a better layout for the shrimping and fishing fleet. The town also wants to expand the day angler docking space.
There’s no timeline yet, Willis said, on when construction will begin.
Town and Safe Harbor Marinas officials also are talking about a location for the processing facility, Willis said. Safe Harbor is redeveloping the town’s waterfront with a new marina and housing. And the development agreement requires Safe Harbor to allow construction of a processing facility on its property, Willis said. It likely will be between Fishcamp on 11th Street and Shellring Ale Works.
The shrimp dock removal, which began last Monday, is expected to be finished in about a week. Two boats that sank near the old dock still need to be removed from Battery Creek as well.
The town has taken steps to prevent a repeat of old boats being abandoned at the town-owned dock.
In October 2022, it became one of the first municipalities in South Carolina to take advantage of a new state allow allowing local governments to pass stricter mooring rules. The goal was to make it harder for captains to abandon boats, which clutter and pollute waterways and create a cleanup bill for the public.
This story was originally published August 25, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
