Tag Archives: Key West harbor
Working Shrimp Boat Returns to Key West Harbor After 30 Year Absence
Ask anyone who remembers Key West in the 1960s what the Historic Seaport looked like back then, when it was still called Key West Bight and was still a rather rough neighborhood of hard-working, hard-partying, and commercial shrimp boats. But those days have long been gone,,, Daniel Smith and James Phelps, who own the F/V Miss Key West shrimp boat and Southeastern Shrimp & Seafood Co., are proud to say they aren’t just a part of Key West history but are making history by bringing back an industry that was as quintessentially Key West as sponging, wrecking, and now, tourism. F/V Miss Key West late last month offloaded for the first time in 30 years, sacks of locally caught Key West pink shrimp onto the docks at the Key West Historic Seaport. Photos, >click to read< 15:39
F/V Miss Key West bringing shrimp industry back to Key West harbor
It was once a significant part of Key West’s economy, but due to numerous economic forces, the last of the shrimping vessels in the harbor left around 30 years ago, according to Dan Smith. But as of a few weeks ago, Smith and James Phelps have brought the first commercial shrimp vessel back to the Key West Harbor since that time. It now sits in the same place where the Schooner Western Union, the flagship of Florida, once was next to Schooner Wharf bar. On Monday, the two owners stood on the docks next to the Miss Key West, along with their captain, Mark Thomson, and some relatives. Phelps and Smith came up with the idea to bring a shrimp vessel back to Key West, both their families were historically part of the fishing and shrimping industry in Key West. Photos, >click to read< 07:50
