2008 Shrimp Season is Over
The Village Lady, Shrimp Fest
The shrimp season ended as planned yesterday, and most of the boats in McClellanville stayed at the dock for the day. The Post and Courier ran an article entitled “Net Decline” on the shrimp season today, and it definitely didn’t paint a real pretty picture. The article states that this season was the worst since 2005. Fuel prices in July were $4.70 per gallon while the shrimpers were catching brown shrimp, which bring the lowest price. DNR doesn’t know how many shrimp were caught this year yet, so we don’t really know how it stacks up against years past.
The article goes on to say how the shrimp industry is getting the squeeze from all directions, mostly fuel prices being way up and farm raised and imported shrimp driving prices down. While the South Carolina shrimping fleet has been on the decline for 12 years, I think that we are still going to see shrimp boats in our waters for a long time to come. A lot of shrimpers did move south early this year, but the cold snap also drove the shrimp south earlier than expected.
Now, more than ever, it is important to demand to only be served local shrimp. Our local shrimpers are trying to put a better product on our tables. The problem lies with restaurants that are more than willing to cut cost by not supporting the local economy (then tell servers to lie about where they are from). The cost difference would be about $.10 per shrimp dinner. People that are eating shrimp in their homes will often go to the supermarket and buy whatever they have rather than making a second stop to get fresh, local shrimp. Support your local commercial fishermen and GoLocal.
Now we’re in the holding pattern and waiting for shrimp festival around the first weekend in May. This marks not only the start of shrimp season, but also the start of summertime. Lets hope for lower fuel prices, a better catch, and a better local market for next season. The water temperature is back up to 50 degrees, so let’s hope it holds there.
