Tag Archives: Willie R. Etheridge Seafood Company

For troubled Outer Banks commercial fishing industry, Coronavirus is one more blow. Louisiana, too.

May 21, 2020   International News, National, South Atlantic

At the state and federal level, increasing regulatory requirements and catch quotas, fueled in part by aggressive lobbying of elected officials by the well-funded recreational fishing industry, have caused even more commercial fishermen to leave the industry. And now COVID-19 strikes another blow to the solar plexus of an industry that, no pun intended, can barely keep its collective heads above water. And interviews with two local operations — of distinctly different sizes — help shed light on how the COVID crisis has affected the Outer Banks’ commercial fisheries. Mark Vrablic of the Willie R Etheridge Seafood Company, one of the last remaining large-scale seafood distributors in Wanchese, minced no words when he described the losses created by the worldwide pandemic.  >click to read< 19:15

Shrimp industry in Louisiana hit hard by Coronavirus pandemic – Shrimp processors are shut down and the baskets that are usually filled are empty. Brown shrimp season started on Monday, and so far it hasn’t been good. “Absolutely terrible, last year I had 42 boats going out during brown shrimp season, this year I only have 9 boats,” said Craig Napoli, C&A Seafood. >click to read<

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North Carolina shrimp catch soared to new record last year – why its a mystery

May 28, 2017   Mid Atlantic

North Carolina shrimp trawlers caught more of America’s favorite seafood last year than any time on record. The verdict on why is unclear. Shrimpers in 2016 harvested a record 13.2 million pounds worth $28 million, a 45 percent increase over the previous year, according to state biologists. A warm autumn gets much of the credit leading to big hauls through New Year’s Day, some two months longer than usual, according to a release from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. Keith Bruno, owner of Endurance Seafood in Oriental, also credits mild temperatures.
“Weather makes all the difference,” he said. But weather does not entirely explain last year’s boom, said Steve George, a salesman at Willie R. Etheridge Seafood Company in Wanchese. Click here to read the story 14:31

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