Tag Archives: Tarvin Seafood
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
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
Mount Pleasant developer to buy one of Shem Creek’s last shrimping docks
One of the last shrimp boat docks on Shem Creek might be saved. Or it might be developed out from underneath the boats, as some fear. Builder and Mount Pleasant resident Brett Elrod has stepped in to buy the Wando dock at the mouth of Shem Creek. Elrod said he plans to work with the community developing the property while maintaining a dock and facilities for shrimp boats.,, But the East Cooper Land Trust, which had been trying to raise money to buy the property, is not convinced and is not partnering with Elrod in the effort. Director Catherine Main said the trust is skeptically optimistic. >click to read<15:16
Save Shem Creek Corp. won’t fundraise until Land Trust offer accepted – >click to read<
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
