Tag Archives: S.C. Department of Natural Resources
At start of season, shrimpers are ‘cautiously optimistic’ despite market concerns
Fresh shrimp soon will be hitting the docks as the first stage of shrimp season gets underway the morning of April 19. This stage is limited to certain areas until the S.C. Department of Natural Resources can confirm the majority of female white shrimp have reproduced. “We want them to be able to spawn before harvest, because the current spawn will become our fall shrimp crop,” DNR spokesperson Erin Weeks said. This approach is essential to ensuring the industry remains sustainable, said Bryan Jones, South Carolina state co-director of the U.S. Shrimpers Coalition and a first-generation shrimper based in McClellanville. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:28
Lowcountry is the last ‘wild west’ for blue crabs. Crabbers call for change.
In February, David Richardson drove to Columbia from his home in Charleston to speak to a room of state senators about his life as a South Carolina crabber, which, at the moment, “is kind of miserable.” But it wasn’t always miserable. Which is why he drove two hours to the Statehouse, a place he had never been nor expected to visit. The crabber thought about wearing a Hawaiian shirt, then thought twice: “I wore a suit, thank God.” As crab numbers fell over the past decade across the Eastern Seaboard, South Carolina did nothing, but North Carolina increased its management actions. It designated some areas as “no-fishing” spawning sanctuaries. And Georgia decided to limit the number of commercial crabbing licenses to under 100. Photos, >click to read< 08:39
With dock closing, Georgetown shrimpers ask if local port could become new home
Waterfront seafood vendor Independent Seafood will close after more than 80 years, leaving Georgetown shrimp boat owners without a long dock that has been key to their livelihoods for generations. The sale of the lot and its brick building at the southern end of Cannon Street comes at a time that Georgetown County is seeing lower seafood sales than years past and fewer trawlers in county waters. An idea to replace the lost dock space to keep remaining shrimp boats in town involves a spot not far away from Independent Seafood’s dock — the dormant Port of Georgetown, soon to be turned over to Georgetown County from the state ports authority. >click to read< 08:25
South Carolina shrimp harvest opens fully
After a cool spring in South Carolina, the majority of white shrimp in coastal waters have reproduced — and officials at the S.C. Department of Natural Resources have given the go-ahead for shrimp season to open in full. Commercial shrimp trawling opened in all legal South Carolina waters at 8 a.m. June 1. The trawling season in Georgia waters was scheduled to open at the same time. Shrimping season in South Carolina typically starts in spring with the opening of a small subset of waters, called provisional areas, that allow shrimpers to take advantage of the harvest offshore while still protecting the majority of shrimp that have yet to spawn. >click to read< 08:05
Couple recovering after fishing boat sinks in Shem Creek
It was a difficult morning for a young couple and after their commercial fishing boat sunk in Shem Creek sometime during the early morning hours, dumping around 100 gallons of water into the creek as it went down. “We woke up this morning, came down to check the boat as normal,” said one of the boat’s owners. But things were anything but normal. Their source of income was gone. “We just have to keep our composure. It’s just a big old bump in the road, one foot in front of the other and keep on going forward. That’s just life of a commercial fisherman.” Video, >click to read< 09:03
Commercial fishing boat sinks in Shem Creek
Boaters are being asked to avoid the area of Shem Creek on Monday as crews work to clean up an oil spill that resulted from an overturned boat. According to the Mount Pleasant Fire Department, the Hampton Caroline spilled around 100 gallons of oil into Shem Creek. The boat was first reported sinking around 9:00 a.m. Monday, but officials believe it began taking on water overnight. video>click to read< Crews clean up fuel spill after boat sinks at Shem Creek – The clean up effort is underway in Shem Creek after a vessel sank in the early hours of Monday morning, leaking 50-100 gallon of fuel. photo, >click to read< 19:33
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
Police Blotter: Colorado Man Steals Shrimpin’ Boat from Murrells Inlet Marina
Commercial oyster farms that float in SC creeks need closer eye, lawmakers say
Two state senators are asking for more scrutiny on the permitting for caged oyster farms, a growing South Carolina industry that has attracted ire from some locals as they expand in coastal waterways. Sens. Chip Campsen and Sandy Senn, both Charleston Republicans, have asked two state agencies to do a better job of notifying neighbors when a business applies to grow oysters with floating cages. >click to read< 11:59
Shrimp season to open next week in outer SC waters
The fresh shrimp of the coast will be back on the plate, and soon. Commercial netting opens Wednesday — two months earlier than last year. It’s a welcome change after the brutal winter in 2018 halted any commercial shrimping until late June. The relatively early opening had been expected after this year’s warmer winter. Shrimper Tommy Edwards, who works out of Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant, predicted in February the S.C. Department of Natural Resources would open the “provisional,” or outer, waters by the first full moon in April. >click to read<21:00
Season looking better for SC shrimp after die-off, industry woes
The first sample trawls of the new year netted a welcome sight: shrimp, and in good numbers. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources ran its monthly trawl last week in the lower Ashley River and Charleston Harbor, reinforcing January’s trend and heightening expectations after a relatively warm winter. That bodes well for the summer shrimp season opening on time — a year after the start was delayed for more than a month because a bitter winter cold had devastated the crop. >click to read<21:44
Fall season a lifeline for SC shrimpers as NOAA issues glowing fishery report
That big and juicy fresh shrimp served in butter this fall was a tasty break. After a delayed season opening and a spotty summer catch, the fall crop has seemingly made up for what could have been another scraping-the-bottom year, officials report. “They started coming in big in September and they’re still coming in big,” said Rutledge Leland, of Carolina Seafoods at the McClellanville shrimp dock. Shrimpers continue to do really well even though both numbers and size should be dropping off with the colder weather, he said. The catch has been so consistently good that McClellanville shrimpers had to slow down this week because processors cut back for the holidays,,, >click to read<
A week later, overturned F/V Miss Annie in Bluffton’s May River is still there. Here’s why
State officials said Friday they still didn’t know when the boat, which leaked an unknown amount of fuel into the river, would be removed. The boat, “Miss Annie,” overturned Sept. 15, when it was docked in the May to avoid Florence’s wrath. An official with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and another with S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control visited the site that day. Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard didn’t arrive until Monday because the boat was “reported as stable” and all of their “assets were engaged in the hurricane response with the impacts in Myrtle Beach and Wilmington,” U.S. Coast Guard MSTC Clayton Rennie said Thursday morning. >click to read<10:00
Shrimp boat anchored in Beaufort Co. to avoid Hurricane Florence overturns, leaks fuel
A shrimp boat anchored in the May River to avoid Hurricane Florence overturned and appears to have leaked fuel into the water, state and local officials said Saturday. Beaufort County dispatchers alerted the S.C. Department of Natural Resources about the possibility of a vessel leaking fuel on Saturday, said David Lucas, a DNR spokesman. A DNR officer and official with the Department of Health and Environmental Control visited the site and found a shrimp boat overturned off of Bull Island. >click to read< 08:53
Will South Carolina shrimp season delay pay off with big crop this fall?
The first of the fall white shrimp are coming in — and they’re coming in surprisingly big. Shrimpers and customers are edgily anticipating these next few months as they await the bounty harvest that makes or breaks a season. But whether big shrimp this early is a good sign is anybody’s guess after this year’s opening was delayed and the summer catch was spotty. “Who knows? This has been such a wacky season,” said Rutledge Leland of Carolina Seafoods in McClellanville. Big fall shrimp this early could mean there just aren’t that many of them out there, he said. But Shem Creek shrimper Tommy Edwards thinks the early shrimp are promising after the relentless July storms. Rains promote algae and zooplankton, which shrimp feed on. >click to read<19:47
Beaufort County fish whisperer retires with this advice on Lowcountry living
Al Stokes is a rare Lowcountry fish who’s finally getting away. He retired Friday as executive director of the Waddell Mariculture Center, an aquaculture research center on a sweeping bend of the Colleton River in Bluffton. Stokes has been there since the beginning, from the time the first water samples and soil samples were taken in late 1979. He was there as $4 million was invested in ponds, a few buildings and a hatchery that was dedicated in 1984 to a humming speech from the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond.,,, Cut this out and put it on your refrigerator: Save the Lowcountry “It’s ours,” Stokes said. Video >click to read<11:24
Blame the cold winter: There’s still no date for the opening of South Carolina shrimp season
South Carolina’s commercial shrimp season — already nearly a month behind its average opening date — might not open any time soon. The bright spot is that a delayed spring season usually turns into a good fall catch. S.C. Department of Natural Resources biologists began another round of sample trawls Tuesday checking whether the spring shrimp had spawned and whether the summer crop had grown to good size. Off Charleston, they found a mixed net.,,, Shem Creek shrimper Tommy Edwards, who took the biologists offshore, still found a reason for some optimism. >click to read<12:46
Cold waters, few shrimp means delay in South Carolina season opening
Two years ago, Greg Herald and two partners decided to try to beat the odds. They bought a shrimp boat and began working from Shem Creek. They wanted to become part of the traditional Lowcountry fleet that is struggling just to hang on. Today, the partnership has liquidated. The veteran commercial fisherman among them, Vince Shavender, has gone home to North Carolina. Herald plans to continue selling shrimp from a roadside stand — local catch if he can get it. But last year he traveled as far as North Carolina and Georgia to find enough to sell. The third partner, who bought out the boat, didn’t return phone messages asking if he is still in the shrimping business. >click to read<10:32
‘Phenomenal’ shrimp season still playing out in the Lowcountry
It’s the cold end of January and that means the end of commercial shrimping is..umm..maybe not even going to happen. It’s phenomenal, said Mel Bell, S.C. Department of Natural Resources fisheries management director. “This is the latest I’ve heard us close. The size they’re bringing in out there we’ve never seen before” this time of year, he said. Not only that, but “provisional” waters will remain open another week. Those are waters roughly beyond two miles out, between the nearshore state waters and federal waters even farther out. And federal waters don’t close at all unless it’s a bad winter. Lowcountry boats have been slaying them in those provisional and federal waters. “Definitely,” said Shem Creek shrimper Tommy Edwards, who has been pulling in shrimp so big they’re weighing out at 13 to the pound. “We’re doing better now than we were when the season was going strong. Right now we’re looking at shrimping all the way through February. We’re not going to close if conditions are right.” Read the story here 13:40
Shrimp size on the rise after Hurricane Matthew
In the midst of fallen trees and other debris, Hurricane Matthew left a sweet little calling card: shrimp, big ones. The storm’s rain and river flooding evidently washed large white shrimp out to the commercial grounds offshore, at least in spots, and some commercial boats are reporting some of the biggest shrimp of the season, hoisting their optimism in a year that’s had its ups and downs. The current cold snap evidently slowed down the catch somewhat. But shrimpers expect it to come back and are looking forward to another big run before frigid winter weather sets in. Shem Creek shrimper Tommy Edwards didn’t net much offshore on Monday, after pulling in hundreds of pounds per day on recent trips. But he expected that to change mid-week, and “the big white shrimp are looking beautiful right now,” he said. “Oh yeah, they’re gorgeous,” Tina Toomer of the Bluffton Oyster Co., said about the catch her husband, Larry Toomer, has been bringing in. Read the story here 13:58South Carolina’s commercial shrimp trawling season opens Monday
In the wake of South Carolina’s historic rainfall event in October 2015, fishermen and biologists were unsure how the unprecedented influx of freshwater would impact the state’s shrimp fishery. Now, local shrimp are back on the menu and contrary to early concerns, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologists are expecting a productive year, with models predicting the largest roe white shrimp crop since 1979. The commercial shrimp trawling season will open in all state waters where trawling is legal at 8 a.m. Monday. Shrimp season normally opens in mid to late May, after the peak spawning period of white shrimp has occurred. Eight smaller provisional areas opened in early April. Several key factors have contributed to 2016’s record shrimp stocks, according to DNR biologists. Read the rest here 23:30
Mass starfish stranding reported on Fripp Island
The stranding of thousands of starfish on Fripp Island was likely due to Wednesday’s stormy weather, according to a marine veterinarian. George Sedberry, a science coordinator in national Office of Marine Sanctuaries, said he has not studied this stranding but offered other possible explanations for the sea stars’ deaths. (You know where this is going, right?) Read the rest here 13:31
USCB, DNR to study toxic effects of rainfall in coastal SC waters
USCB and DNR have purchased equipment that will be stationed at various spots throughout the waterways for a year. The devices, to be deployed in about a week, will let researchers measure rainfall amounts, water temperature, water salinity and chemicals, Montie said. The study comes in the wake of a massive die-off of the county’s oyster population in recent weeks. Environmental officials and fishermen have said that as much as 75 to 90 percent of the oysters are dead. [email protected] 10:59
Newly discovered shark patrols SC waters – The “Carolina hammerhead”
COLUMBIA, SC — Scientists have discovered a new species of shark in the ocean off South Carolina and have named it for the region where it was found. The “Carolina hammerhead,” thought to reach 11 feet long and weigh about 400 pounds, has been identified cruising the waters at Bull’s Bay north of Charleston, St. Helena Sound near Beaufort and in the Charleston harbor. more@thestate
Commercial shrimp season opened today; Beaufort Co. shrimpers optimistic
The commercial trawling season for white roe shrimp opens today in South Carolina waters, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. DNR decides when to open the season based on factors such as spawning, growth and weather.The past few months have been unusually cool, slowing shrimp growth, according to Mel Bell, director of the Office of Fisheries Management. But the shrimp, although slightly smaller than usual, are spawning on schedule, he said. continued
