Tag Archives: after Hurricane Ian
Miz Shirley’s Shrimp Shack after Hurricane Ian
Captain James and Shirley Driggers, owners of Miz Shirley’s Shrimp Shack, have been shrimping for nearly three decades, before Hurricane Ian. Shirley and James sell freshly-caught pink shrimp in Key West. “We started doing this because we need a house but also we need to stay in business. We need to keep our boat up,” Shirley said. Before Hurricane Ian, Shirley and James would pack their boat (named Miz Shirley) with shrimp and unload at the dock on Fort Myers Beach. The couple hired a captain to take Miz Shirley into Key West waters for shrimp, while James and Shirley sell. Video, >click to read< 09:05
Southwest Florida’s shrimping industry struggles to stay afloat after hurricane devastation
Erickson & Jensen Seafood now have five of their shrimp boats back in the water, but their operations are far from normal since Hurricane Ian. “We had a nice ongoing business and we were very secure,” Grant Erickson said referring to his 75-year-old business. “Been doing this for a long, long time. And then all of a sudden in a 12-hour period, the storm just took us completely out of what we were doing.” Before Hurricane Ian, Erickson and Jensen had 11 ships bringing in tons of shrimp. From rebuilding the docks and their buildings, it’s been difficult to find the money. Video, >click to read< 13:27
How two islands could shape Florida’s post-Ian recovery
Tanned bare feet sticking out from a pair of loose-fitting blue Dickies, Joey Burnsed looks every bit the islander. The past few months, however, have shown another side of the lifestyle. His usually packed charter fishing schedule blew away with Hurricane Ian. But like a true islander, he’s taken it in stride, coping with whatever challenges the day throws his way. Recently, that’s meant a new gig: steering his skiff to remote mangrove thickets on Pine Island, Florida, so cleanup crews can clear storm debris. You could call that the Pine Island way – independent, resourceful, and a little stubborn. To some, the island is a modern-day link to “Old Florida,” a retreat for raconteurs, crabbers, artists, the funky and the frivolous. >click to read< 12:47
Shrimp and Grit: Fighting to save the Fort Myers Beach shrimping fleet after Ian’s devastation
The Perseverance sunk. The Penny V was crushed. The Pleiades cracked in half. Aces & Eights had five holes. The Babe took a beating. The Capt. Ryan was boxed in. The Kayden Nicole tipped. Boats were scattered along the San Carlos Island waterfront in clusters. Six boats were flung into bushes, sea grape trees and dead mangroves not far from Trico Shrimp Company, the other major shrimp player on the waterfront. Ten floated maybe a quarter mile west, up into an RV park and a boatyard. Most of these boats were old before Ian arrived. They had been built to last one decade but stretched for five, held together with the glue of ingenuity, by owners and mechanics unwilling to concede to those who called it a dying industry. Right after Ian, just one boat was fit for sea. It was the F/V Malolo, the namesake of the boat Anna’s great-grandfather had first brought to Fort Myers. Photos, >click to read< 21:30
One by one, shrimp boats are being lifted back into the water on San Carlos Island
They’re lifting a 290,000-pound boat after Hurricane Ian tossed it around and brought it on land. Scott Schofield knows a thing or two about watching the big shrimp boats being lifted and removed because he’s been out here watching, and recording, every move of these boats. Meticulous is one way to describe it. Painstaking is another. The process takes anywhere from a day and a half to two days. For boats like F/V Captain Eddie 99, it’ll be the full two days. Video, >click to read< 11:34
