Shrimpers have fished area waters for generations here in Fernandina Beach, birthplace of the modern shrimping industry in America. If you think your job is hard, consider that fishing is one of the most dangerous on the planet.
Venture to the beach at night and you’ll likely see on the distant horizon, the twinkling dots of light – the shrimp boats off Amelia Island’s coastline. On this lovely October evening at sunset, a shrimp boat passed along the western river bank at Fort Clinch State Park on the Amelia River, heading to Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Complementing the picturesque waterfront at the Fernandina Harbor and along Front Street docks, are shrimp boats.
Add to Amelia’s beautiful beaches and quaint historic district in Fernandina, the bonus of shrimp boats right here in our back yard. This means truly fresh shrimp from local waters on our plates in a day or less sometimes. Let’s put another check mark in the “good life” column, here in Fernandina Beach.
See how local folks and visitors to Amelia Island celebrate during the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival, an annual event held the first weekend in May every year, attracting over 100,000. The Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival was first held in 1963 to celebrate the traditional blessing of the shrimp fleet.
Today’s American shrimpers are a waning breed, many coming from a long family history in the business. Those catching shrimp the traditional way, wild-caught, fresh from the sea, have had difficulty competing with a flood of Asian imports.
When you buy shrimp at the supermarket or order shrimp off a restaurant menu, do you presume it’s shrimp from the sea? The odds are against it, since much of the seafood in U.S. stores and restaurants is farmed, not wild-caught. The aquaculture seafood industry is huge globally. Reportedly, 80% of shrimp eaten by Americans is imported. Read more about the shrimping industry and wild-caught American Shrimp.
Amelia Island Living’s “Seaside Snapshots” are a new photo journal feature.
