1. his trailer axle threw one wheel’s studs
2. he forgot his code to buy more minutes on his cell phone
3. his bank declined his attempt to withdraw funds (first time in 20+ years at that bank)
4. so, his parts won’t be ordered ’til his wife gets there in another hour!

UPDATE: $500 bucks later (hub, wheels, hotel…), he made it down when we discovered his starter was dying on him. I didn’t wanna-make-a big deal of it, but David really hooked us up in a 24 hr squeeze – thanks again!

From the Shem Creek blog.

What’s a guy gotta do to go fishin around here?

One of the stipulations for the lottery is that bidders have a local business license, but we all know there are ways around that one; for instance, ever notice how most corporations are created in Delaware or Nevada due to their low corporate taxes?

“I think it’s important for everyone in the commercial fishing industry to have a chance to dock up there” – Eric Demoura, current Town Administrator

While that sounds like a fair share for everyone, as we all know, what will probably happen is that these 6 spots – 4 shrimp boats + 2 crab boats – will be won by those with the most money to bet with come lottery day (Feb, 1st each year).

And a Shem Creek fish market? I don’t see Shem Creek ever looking like San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, so why even go there? There isn’t enough fish in the sea to sustain another fish market on this creek.

The other side of the coin is that cutting down on shrimping helps out other species with a lower by-catch over time, but for many, it’s a small price to pay when it comes to a shrimper’s livelihood or a town’s primary draw for traveling visitors.

Anyway, the full council must approve the lottery 7 days from now before it goes into affect, so voice your concerns accordingly.

So much for small town ambiance!

From the Shem Creek blog.

Local shrimpers beware: good luck with lottery for our $hem Creek docks

Tournament dates and contacts for the 2011 S.C. Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series:

1. May 11-14, Bohicket Marina Invitational Billfish Tournament
   Contact: Bryan Richardson, 1880 Andell Bluff Blvd, Johns Island, SC, 29455
   (843) 768-1280, fax (843) 768-3481, Dockmaster@bohicket.com
2. May 25-28, 44th Annual Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament
   Contact: John Horton, P.O. Box 1704, Georgetown, SC 2944
   (843) 546-1776, fax (843) 546-7832, jhorton@georgetownlandingmarina.com
3. June 22-25, Carolina Billfish Classic
   Contact: Deidre Menefee, 1625 Savannah Hwy., Charleston, SC 29407
   (843) 345-0369, fax (888) 758-3950, dm@fishCBC.com
4. July 6-9, HMY/Viking MEGADOCK Billfishing Tournament
   Contact: McKenzie Hutaff, P.O. Box 759, Charleston, SC, 29402
   (843) 278-4920, fax (843) 577-7704, mestes@megadock.com
5. July 27-30, Edisto Marina Billfish Tournament
   Contact: Becca Smith, 3702 Docksite Road Edisto Beach, SC, 29438
   (407) 463-2082, fax (843) 869-3738, smithbeccae@gmail.com

Learn more about the South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series by contacting DNR’s, Jenkins at (843) 953-9835, or Amy Dukes at dukesa@dnr.sc.gov or (843) 953-9365.

From the Shem Creek blog.

2011 SC Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series

As they mention, regs here stipulate a 48qt limit, unless you ‘head’ them out on the water, which then allows 29qts.

To give an idea, here’s our recent catch that went right up to the brim:

From the Shem Creek blog.

Throwing pancakes for shrimp (with your grits)

From the Shem Creek blog.

Shem Creek Shrimp and Grits

Normally an Asian concept, Marvesta is moving ahead with shrimp farming here in the U.S. and after 4 years in the making, it looks like they may have finally panned things out successfully for their shrimp farm.

“With more than one-third of the Gulf Coast closed off to fishermen and shrimpers, the domestic seafood industry has been hit very hard, but one company sees these hard times as a chance to find new ways of growing and harvesting shrimp. …It ships almost 130,000 pounds of fresh shrimp a year to restaurants from New York to California.” – Baltimore, Maryland TV commentator

This recent TV news broadcast includes some good views of the farm’s tanks, plumbing, equipment, and owners for anybody here in South Carolina or elsewhere are interested in their setup. I also included their contact info below.

I was wondering how they dealt with sustainability, and even though I was disappointed to see that their ‘sustainability’ page was down, I did see this snippet on their ‘shrimp’ page:

“Marvesta Shrimp Farms harvest shrimp 365 days a year and is committed to achieving 100% customer satisfaction. Due to the proprietary nature of the Company’s system, they are not dependent on any external factors and utilize a completely indoor Bio-Secure facility to remain not only fully sustainable, but reliable year round”. – Marvesta Shrimp Farm

Information: Scott Fritze, Andrew Hanzlik and Guy Furman, Marvesta Shrimp Farms, 201 Enterprise Drive, Hurlock, Maryland 21643, USA (phone 1-410-943-1733, fax 1-410-943-1734, email guy@marvesta.com, webpage http://www.marvesta.com).

From the Shem Creek blog.

More shrimp farms mean more fresh shrimp – year round

Stephen said the female lemon shark put up a good fight, and that it took him over 30 minutes to get it to the boat, leaving him exhausted. He used a 6.5′ Shakespeare Ugly Stik rod paired with a Shimano Tiagra reel, probably similar to the one pictured below, and had cut barracuda fillets for bait.

From the Shem Creek blog.

380lb. lemon shark sets new game fish record

Bench Mark’s Blue Marlin and 5 Sailfish releases toppled Reel Passion’s 2nd place spot of 2 Blue Marlin and 1 Sailfish release, but everybody involved had a great time no doubt!

“The interesting thing is that for the first time in years, a large number of blue marlin were encountered, with 14 actually being caught and released. This is more than the total number of blue’s that have been caught this year in the three previous tournaments combined. Further, in recent years, July has been a slow month for encountering blue marlin. The reason for the surge is unknown.” – SCDNR biologist Wallace Jenkins.

Congratulations to the ‘Bench Mark’ crew. So, what’s the split on $105,184 amongst y’all anyway?

From the Shem Creek blog.

‘Bench Mark’, winners of the 2010 MegaDock Tournament

From the Shem Creek blog.

Some mid-week fishing bloopers

A recent poll by Louisiana State University of Gulf area residents found 57% of them said they were less likely to buy local seafood because of the spill.
– Seafood.com

True, you may be worried about seafood like Gulf residents are right now, but know this:

• of the 17% of the seafood Americans eat that comes from domestic sources, only 2% of that comes from the Gulf, according to the National Fisheries Institute, a trade group.

If everybody were aware of those numbers, the seafood market would largely remain stable throughout this environmental crisis. It still doesn’t solve the problem shrimpers are having with a huge reduction in supply out in the ocean though, but for shrimpers willing and able to make an occupational shift of sorts, shrimp farming may be an option worth looking into.

I had no idea how widespread shrimp farming is around the world until I just watched this video from Texas (A&M I think). I touches on all the different steps needed to get a shrimp farm going, but I’ll tell you right now, you’re probably gonna need some serious financial backing to get this project going.

According to Wikipedia, the U.S. hit a high of 5,000 tonnes of farmed shrimp production per year back in 2003 and 2004, but we’ve since slid back to 2,000 tonnes of farmed shrimp production (as of 2007); who knows, maybe you can get a piece of the market now.

From the Shem Creek blog.

Shrimp: if you can’t catch’em, grow’em