Currently a saltwater recreational fishing license is required for people:

• * Harvesting oysters or clams
• * Fishing for fin-fish from a private boat or transporting catch in a private boat.

The new legislation will also require a saltwater recreational fishing license for:

• * Recreationally fishing from shore (beach, bank, private dock, free public pier, etc.)
• * Recreationally harvesting shrimp and/or crab.

We can purchase a license 24/7 via 1-866-714-3611 or www.dnr.sc.gov/purchase.html.

There are a few exceptions allowing people to harvest marine resources without a saltwater recreational fishing license:

• * fishing off a licensed commercial public fishing pier,
• * fishing off a licensed for-hire vessel (charter and headboats),
• * taking shrimp over bait (still required to have Shrimp Baiting License)
• * fishing with 3 or fewer drop nets,
• * fishing with 3 or fewer fold-up traps, and
• * fishing with 3 or fewer handlines with a single bait and no hooks (chicken necking).

A South Carolina resident 64 years or older may obtain a statewide lifetime hunting & fishing license which includes the privilege of saltwater fishing. A person who has been a South Carolina resident for at least one year, and has been determined to be totally disabled, may obtain a statewide fishing & hunting license which includes the privilege of saltwater fishing.

Revenue generated from Saltwater Recreational Fishing License sales will be used for the direct benefit of South Carolina’s marine recreational fisheries. – SCDNR

The same Saltwater Recreational Fishing License fees remain:

• * 14-day Resident – $5
• * Annual Resident – $10
• * 14-day Non-Resident – $11
• * Annual Non-Resident – $35

From the Shem Creek blog.

Saltwater Recreational Fishing License changes

Just south of Myrtle Beach is Evans Pelican Inn, an informal antebellum beach house. All nine of the simple rooms have ceiling fans and screened windows to make the most of the salty sea breeze (there is air-conditioning, too).

The Southern-style breakfast includes biscuits, grits, and crab salad. The inn fills up fast during the summer months, but spring is actually the most pleasant time to go, because average temperatures range between 68 and 83 and the humidity is low.

The best way to see this narrow barrier island, which is squeezed between a salt marsh and the Atlantic, is by bicycle. Rent one from Pawleys Island Beach Service (10570 Ocean Hwy.; 843/237-4666) and spend the day exploring. Travel + Leisure also suggests checking out weavers at the nearby Hammock Shop.

From the Shem Creek blog.

S.C. makes ‘Affordable Beach Resorts’ list

“We have a treadmill for blue crabs, and are making one for lobsters too” Dr. Burnett said on The Today Show this morning.

Anyway, here is their short explanation of the process before watching the shrimp exercise to “The Final Countdown”:

The central hypothesis underlying my research is that infectious disease can compromise the respiratory systems of lower vertebrates and invertebrates and thereby limit the ability of animals to sustain and recover from normal activities. Working with colleagues at College of Charleston’s Grice Marine Laboratory and Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, we have demonstrated that in resting animals bacterial infection can compromise normal metabolic function.

Of course, if “The Final Countdown” isn’t your type of music, you can always pick another shrimp on a treadmill video.

From the Shem Creek blog.

Shrimp on a treadmill, from CofC to YouTube sensation

The ‘hen has come home to roost’, and now that marine life is dwindling around the world, those who’ve been busy feeding our insatiable appetites for seafood are the same ones claiming they aren’t making enough money to sustain their lifestyles anymore.

What a lot of tourists don’t realize is that some of the fish they’re eating here in the restaurants lining Shem Creek have actually been shipped in frozen from other locations, either because our supplies have dwindled, or they’re just not native to this area.

The same goes for ‘Maryland blue crabs’ too though. What many people up there don’t understand is that truckloads of those crabs come from right here in S.C., with a handsome profit if they’ve been steamed with some seasoning.

“They don’t get a nice big crab like we do here. … Everybody in Maryland thinks they’re Maryland crabs.” – Charleston.net

From the Shem Creek blog.

Maryland blue crabs – from South Carolina!