ROMANCE OF THE SEA

The sun sinks low over the Charleston Harbor, casting a warm orange glow over the water and silhouetting the array of boats anchored in Shem Creek. As an early June day draws to a close, things seem to be just as they should. School's out and Spoleto's on, making it the perfect time for friends and families to come together at waterside restaurants to eat shrimp and grits while soaking up the day's last light.

With shrimp boats docked in plain sight, it's easy to assume that the grilled, fried or sautéed seafood noted as the daily special is swept up from the sandy sea floor earlier in the day. Unfortunately for us - and for the dwindling numbers of South Carolina shrimpers - that couldn't be further from the truth. And the origin of most of the shrimp on our plates, Southeast Asia, couldn't be further from the Lowcountry.

The fact is that 85% of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported, and much of that is pond-raised in southeast Asia, sometimes using prohibited antibiotics such as chloramphenicol and nitrofurans, which are banned for agricultural use in the U.S. Despite the illegality, some exporting countries have risked treating their shrimp to fend off the diseases that once wiped out much of their farmed product. Occasional shrimp shipments continue to be confiscated when these drugs turn up, but manpower allows for only a small percentage of shipments to be tested, so consumers may be getting more than they bargained for.

Although imported shrimp have played a role in driving and supplying local year-round demand since the mid 90s, its impact on local shrimpers has become detrimental in recent years. Three out of every four shrimp boats that were once berthed in McClellanville, Shem Creek and Beaufort are no longer actively fishing.

Jimmy Scott is a McClellanville shrimper who has lived and breathed the evolution of our local shrimping industry. Scott's father was a doctor who moved the family from Charleston to McClellanville in the late 1930s. "I've always loved the waterfront and hung out around docks since I was a boy," Scott reminisced. "I'd just finished first grade when I took my first shrimp boat trip with Cap'n Huck Morrison in the summer of '50. I used to tag along with his boys every chance I got."

Enchanted with the independence of a fisherman's life, Scott chose his vocation early. He took a break from high school to join the Navy, where he picked up the nickname of "Big Wood" that has stuck with him ever since. "A fella I met said 'You look just like a big ol' log restin' on the forest floor,'" Jimmy explained with a hint of a grin. With his imposing stature and quiet way, the name is a good fit.

After completing high school, Big Wood knew he wanted to raise a family in the quiet village of McClellanville, and shrimping was the only way he knew to achieve his goal. Starting in 1968, he learned the ropes as a striker, or deckhand, on the Tommy Jr. and ran The Howard before building the Mary Margaret in 1973, named for his wife and daughter.

The early days were phenomenal. With diesel fuel just 18 cents per gallon, Big Wood relished being his own boss and made good money selling his shrimp to the dock for $4.25 per pound. The Mary Margaret was one of more than 50 boats, including some North Carolina-based ones, which docked in McClellanville to offload shrimp.

Fast forward three decades: recent fuel prices have approached $2.50 per gallon, and this season's large white roe shrimp netted Big Wood a maximum of $4.25 per pound - the same amount he earned in 1973. Only 14 boats are now based at McClellanville's Carolina Seafood, and two of those are part-timers.

Despite tariffs that the International Trade Commission has levied on U.S. imports of frozen shrimp since January 2005, and an anti-dumping duty imposed on Thailand, India, Vietnam, China, Ecuador and Brazil, the cost to produce pond-raised shrimp continues to be far below the cost to harvest local shrimp, giving domestic shrimpers a run for their money - and their livelihoods.

"It's a waste of time to fight imports. They're here to stay," said Big Wood. "Marketing is the only answer. And we can't just say we have a better product - it has to be better."

Captain Donnie Brown and daughter, Megan

ON THE PLATE

Executive Chef Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill believes wholeheartedly in the goodness of our local product. "Shrimp are one of the crown jewels of Charleston cuisine, and it's great to be able to serve something that came off a boat just a few blocks from the restaurant." Despite the challenges associated with sourcing local shrimp Stehling said, "I never had to buy imports all year." By locating sources for frozen shrimp from the southern U.S., he supported his goal of "wanting dollars to stay in the area as much as possible."

Executive Chef Ryan Herrmann of Fish Restaurant is another Lowcountry chef who makes the effort to serve some local shrimp during the season. "If you ever have the opportunity to taste local and imported shrimp side-by-side, you'll agree there's no comparison," said Herrmann. "Local shrimp are sweet, and imports tend to have a weird fibrousness."

Although it seems that using fresh local seafood would be a natural choice for restaurateurs, the variance in size and the seasonality of local wild-caught shrimp make it challenging for chefs to find a steady supply ideally sized for their menu offerings. Restaurateurs attempting to go straight to the source - a captain and his catch - may find it too time-consuming to coordinate their inventory needs with the shrimper's sporadic fishing trips.

Another issue is that our state lacks a centralized processing facility for the 4-5 million pounds of local shrimp that are caught each year, so buyers requiring peeled, deveined, consistently-sized shrimp often choose low-cost pond-raised imports. Even chefs who strive to use local product rarely get fresh-from-the-sea shrimp. Instead, their once-local shrimp may detour to Louisiana or Mississippi for processing before being frozen and shipped back to South Carolina.

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A handful of local restaurants, including Hominy Grill and FISH, claim Raul's Seafood among their seafood purveyors. Raul Morales is a one-time shrimper who started his business on Shem Creek's little-known Geechee Dock in 1982. He and his wife Kimberly call their chef clientele to tell them what seafood is coming off the boats. This is just the type of easygoing exchange one would think occurs between local restaurants and their seafood purveyors, but it is increasingly rare. "I used to serve over 80 restaurants, but these imports have really messed up my business," said Raul.

A few docks further down Shem Creek, Captain Donnie Brown, owner of Miss Karen, expresses similar sentiments. Following a recent three-day trip, the fish house (Wando Seafood) agreed to buy only one-third of his catch. A second buyer offered a pittance - just $1.50 per pound - for his remaining catch, but Donnie opted to hold onto those shrimp in hopes of securing a price that would actually cover his costs. He even mentioned the possibility of offloading future catches of South Carolina shrimp in Florida, where buyers offer more reasonable prices.

Donnie's boat is one of two freezer boats on Shem Creek; the other is the Lily & Megan, which is run by his two sons. Unlike traditional shrimp boats which must have thousands of pounds of ice "blown on" before their trips, Donnie's boat has a large tank with a brine solution that individually flash-freezes shrimp at six degrees below zero. It takes only five minutes to freeze a fifty-pound lot, then he moves the shrimp to his subzero freezer.

Donnie grew up on Shem Creek and ran his first shrimp boat, Silver Star, when he was just 17. He worked on C.A. Magwood's boat when he was in his twenties and enjoyed shrimping because "the harder you worked, the more you made." Unfortunately the correlation between effort and earnings no longer applies, inspiring Donnie to travel beyond Lowcountry waters to make ends meet.

Steve Kerchner, Beaufort Shrimper

BETTER PRODUCT NEEDS BETTER MARKETING

Shrimp is the most popular seafood consumed by Americans, so having sources other than our wild-caught shrimp is a necessity. The kicker is that most people assume they are eating domestic wild-caught shrimp, just as they were ten years ago. Diners and shoppers are not knowingly contributing to the demise of the South Carolina shrimp industry; they're just buying like they always have, feeling lucky to be living or vacationing on the coast near seemingly abundant fresh seafood.

In 2004, the Southern Shrimp Alliance formed Wild American Shrimp, Inc. (WASI) as a marketing arm to brand the domestic wild-caught shrimp being pulled in along the coasts of eight southeastern states. Fish houses and processing facilities can participate in a training program enabling them to certify their wild-caught American shrimp that meets specific standards for uniformity of size, flavor, texture and aroma. The agency's goal is to educate consumers about the available choice and to encourage them to pay a premium price for domestic shrimp that are harvested from their natural habitat.

Steve Kerchner, a 30-year Beaufort-based shrimper, said of WASI, "It has raised awareness, but that hasn't yet translated into more dollars." Kerchner runs the Poor Boy, a name given to his boat by its previous owner, long before it might have been considered an omen. With fuel costs of $21,000 in 2003 escalating to $35,000 last year, Kerchner said, "Shrimping can be so satisfying, but it can also beat you to death. I keep at it because I like it more than anything else I can think of."

He offloads his catch at Fripp Point Seafood, where owner Lonnie Golden sells only domestic wild-caught shrimp. Docks throughout the Lowcountry are the best source for the freshest, most affordable local shrimp, but consumers should be aware that some docks also sell imported pond-raised shrimp.

To ensure the purchase of local wild-caught shrimp, it is critical to clarify whether the shellfish came off the boats just steps away. On a recent trip to a McClellanville dock, there were two bins of shrimp for sale: small for $3.99 per pound, and large for $5.99 per pound. Neither bin was marked, but after requesting local, I was directed to the higher-priced ones, proving that shrimp lovers - like all food lovers - must be vigilant about determining the origin of what they eat. In addition, we must be willing to pay a bit more for fresh white and brown shrimp harvested from their natural environment.

Informed and inquisitive diners and shoppers are our best hope for ensuring that South Carolina shrimpers can continue to earn a living by working the waters within eyesight of our beaches. To demonstrate our dedication to preserving our Lowcountry heritage and traditions, we must encourage restaurants and retailers to raise the bar and proudly offer local shrimp.