What does this mean for the industry? For starters, fewer shrimp boats will go out. Pat said for his overall, he’s had to cut profit margins even with fuel. If you can imagine, he is selling fuel at almost zero profit since the price of shrimp has not only failed to keep up with the cost of living, it’s literally cheaper than it was in 1995. Captain Jack Coursey is one of the few still sailing out of Tybee. I was afforded the luxury of sitting in his air-conditioned truck for his interview. Captain Jack has been shrimping for 43 years! It all started his junior year of high school, when he worked part time on a shrimp boat. The money was great and the work was plentiful. Jack decided it was best to drop out and pursue a life on the ocean chasing those delicious little bastards. Jack told me he will never forget breaking the news to his mother that he has decided not to finish high school. She looked at him and said, “If you’re going to be dumb, you better be tough.” Words I believe we can all live by. Jack is one of the few whose decision to leave school made him the great success that he is today. Jack can be found out on the Lisa Suzanne, a trawler anyone would stop to photograph. The Lisa Suzanne spends its day out in the Atlantic pulling in hundreds, as well as thousands of pounds of wild caught shrimp right off our waters! Shrimp isn’t the only thing you’ll pull up in these nets of course. This particular day Jack dumped his net and he and his employee, Brandon, started sorting through the shrimp, pulling out the by-catch. By-catch is the term used to describe anything caught that was not intended to be. This trip Jack had starfish, sand dollars, crabs, sting rays, and an assortment of smaller fish, including some little sharks, all which are pushed over the side of the boat to the waiting wild life. And trust me, these fellas know when it’s meal time. All at once pelicans, cranes, seagulls, and dolphins appeared out of nowhere rushing to get what Jack and Brandon threw overboard. Standing there, Pat joked, “Tybee doesn’t have wild dolphins, they’re all trained. Someone feeds you every day for 70 years, you’d show up too.” Is there anyone who doesn’t enjoy a free lunch?! Getting down to the basics, I asked Jack what it takes to be successful out on these waters. He said, “If you’re going to make it in this industry you’ll need to be one hell of a shrimper, mechanic, welder and carpenter.” Taking care of a boat like Jack’s is no easy work, but Jack keeps a positive attitude and loves to joke around. When I asked his least favorite part of this job, he said, “Waking up in the morning.” I think we can all agree that’s everyone’s least favorite part of their job! Jack told me, “It’s more than just putting a net in the water and pulling out shrimp. There’s a lot to take in to consideration, such as the time of year, the tide, the weather, and what direction the wind is blowing can all affect where you’ll find shrimp.” It has become easier with technology, plotters and computers that track the shrimp, making it precise. “If you see a buoy on the screen, you’ve already hit it,” Jack chuckled. All and all I think we can agree that we are grateful for people like Pat Matthews and Jack Coursey, who still believe in local shrimping. Nothing is quite as satisfying as peeling a local shrimp for lunch or dinner! Keep in mind, as the sign over Bubba Gumbo’s clearly reads: FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS EAT IMPORTED SHRIMP! TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | AUG 2017 9
20391 Tybee
To see the actual publication please follow the link above