Tag Archives: Cindy Tarvin
$3 million Shem Creek dock renovations aim to boost shrimping, fishing fleet
In a show of support for the longstanding shrimping industry, the Shem Creek docks are undergoing major renovations. The $3 million repair and rebuild of the dock, pier and processing building on Haddrell Street began June 11. Construction for the project was awarded to Cape Romain Contractors in April. Crews will remove and rebuild the existing boardwalk and pier to create a wider walking clearance for shrimpers and improve accessibility for workers and visitors. The shrimp docks are not the same as the boardwalk at Shem Creek Park and are tucked away from the restaurants and nightlife that surround the creek. Crews will also repair the shrimp processing section of the building where Tarvin Seafood operates. The back portion of the building has been condemned for years and is unsafe, said Cindy Tarvin, owner of the family-operated business. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:13
High fuel costs impacting shrimping industry in Charleston
The shrimping scene on Shem Creek looks like something out of a movie. Tarvin Seafood supplies shrimp to over 75 buyers in Charleston. In 12 years of business, Cindy and her son Kola Tarvin have seen the tides shift a lot in the industry, but not quite like they have the last two years — especially when it comes to fuel prices. “Couple boats just this year have left the creek,” Kola Tarvin said. Cindy Tarvin says fuel prices have skyrocketed. “It was almost five dollars at the end of last season, per gallon,” Tarvin said. And it has a ripple effect on their business. >video, click to read< 11:37
Lowcountry shrimpers facing challenges as season begins along SC coast
The full 2022 shrimping season is underway along the South Carolina coast, but economic woes may cause a challenge this year. While the offshore shrimping began in April, which allows shrimping three miles off the coast – or in South Carolina’s provisional area – Lowcountry shrimpers can work closer to the coast as of June 1. “Today, what we call the beaches, open for in-shore trawling. So, shrimpers are allowed to come in within, I think, a half-mile of the beach,” explained Cindy Tarvin, co-owner of Tarvin Seafood on Shem Creek. Video, >click to read< 18:56
Lowcountry Shrimpers expect cost of fuel to impact profits, cause issues
With just weeks until shrimp season gets underway, some Shem Creek Shrimpers say they’ve never seen gas prices as high as they are right now. They say the extra cost could push some boats out of the industry or force others to quit shrimping altogether. Shrimpers say with gas prices at nearly $4.50 for boat fuel and boats using hundreds of gallons of gas each day, some boats are sitting idle. Tarvin’s Seafood owner Cindy Tarvin says the higher operating costs will likely lead to higher shrimp and seafood costs through the season in order for shrimpers to offset the expense. video, >click to read< 13:50
SC shrimp season opens with a brighter outlook – “One of the restaurants said its like July Fourth every day,”
“Over the past several years we’ve seen a lot of larger shrimp offshore that are probably coming down from up north, just because of the range expansion of (white) shrimp.” There’s hope that this season will see a comeback for the industry that sells these shrimp, in part because measures to combat coronavirus in 2020 severely restricted restaurant dining and dampened demand for local product. Last year, Cindy Tarvin of Tarvin Seafood, based on Shem Creek, told The Post and Courier that restaurant orders had dropped to between one-quarter and one-third of normal. This year, she said, sales have bounced back dramatically as diners have rushed back to restaurants. “One of the restaurants said its like July Fourth every day,” she >click to read< 16:21
“The icon of the creek” – Wayne Magwood remembered by family, friends
Wayne Magwood and his shrimping boat, The Winds of Fortune, called Shem Creek home for decades. He often sold his catch on the corner of Mill Street and Coleman Boulevard, near the site of the accident. Some say, he taught everyone on the creek how to shrimp. He’d take young shrimpers under his wing and teach them the ways while helping them get their boats ready for the job. One of those young shrimpers is Lockwood Freeman who is also Magwood’s nephew. “We’ve just been getting it ready. We were really just getting going. I’m just devastated. It just feels like a dream,” said Freeman. video, >click to read< 08:29
Shem Creek’s Wando dock up for sale, one of last for area shrimp boats
One of Shem Creek’s last remaining shrimp boat docks is quietly up for sale. The loss of the Wando dock could be the tipping point for the vanishing fleet in the creek made famous by its hanging nets. The Wando dock is one of the last three commercial docks mooring shrimp boats that are a picturesque hallmark of the creek. Five boats now tie up there — about half the fleet that once existed. In previous years, it was common to see shrimp boats tied off three or more abreast and their catch sold from the docks. Losing it could mean those boats would have nowhere else to tie off, much less sell their shrimp. It also could put more development pressure on the owners of the other two. >click to read<19:32
