Pat's Wildways: Support Local Shrimpers

Whenever I get a hankering for fresh live caught local shrimp I wait for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday mornings when Martin Holton is manning his pickup truck on Eighth Street near T.J. Courson Road. Martin comes from three generations of Fernandina shrimpers. For years he was part owner of the long gone shrimp boat the Southern Cross and worked on many others over the years. He told me he “Made more trips around sea buoys than some have been around the stoplights in Fernandina in the 70s.” But now, he is no longer working on a shrimp boat, but is still embedded in the local industry and gets his fresh shrimp from the still-functioning Ashley Michelle shrimp boat docked at the Pogy Plant.

If you want to know anything about shrimp, just ask Martin. Over the years I’ve learned about the various types of shrimp harvested both nearshore and far offshore throughout the year. With shrimping seasons varying between Georgia and Florida and some shrimp caught well beyond state waters, there is always a ready crop available for Martin. On a good day I’ve seen Martin leave his stand three or more times to fill up his coolers of shrimp to sell. Those in the know, like me, line up in front of his pickup truck, hoping that the last cooler won’t be emptied before we get ours.

But it is not only shrimp and information I get from Martin’s stand. Often, waiting in line with a few other locals is the best source, for me, of shrimp recipes. One woman in line one day told me about the shrimp corn chowder that her family always requests when they visit. So I set out to recreate this delicacy.

For starters, I stopped by Jessica’s 14^th Street produce stand, an historic three-generational business in its own right. Jessica’s father, Gerald, started this business. Jessica has taken over, and her kids are often working there beside her. They make a near-daily run down to the Beaver Street market in Jacksonville to pick up their produce that has arrived there from local and distant farms for distribution. My mission this day was corn — something now in season at Jessica’s stand.

At Martin’s pickup truck next, I purchased a few pounds of shrimp and had him “head” them for me. With expertise gained from years of this work, Martin quickly removes the heads from the fresh shrimp and most customers give him a few extra dollars for this work, although it isn’t required. But no, I didn’t let him discard the heads, like most customers want. No. This is a key part of the shrimp corn chowder recipe I learned at Martin’s.

At home, I cut the kernels off the corn and tossed the bare cobs in a pot of water along with the shrimp heads and some Cajun spices. Meantime, the rest of the shrimp with more spices and some lemon was boiling in its own pot. Later, I strained the cobs and heads from the pot and I had a wonderful broth to form the basis of the chowder. The other shrimp was only boiled briefly to retain its tenderness, and when cooled, I peeled and cleaned them. Some went into my freezer, ready for the next recipe. And some joined the potatoes, corn kernels and roasted red bell pepper in the broth when they were cooked. A little roux of flour joined the chowder to thicken it, and a bit of milk at the end smoothed it out. It was delicious!

I am eager to try another soul food recipe I learned from another long-term patron of Martin’s shrimp stand — shrimp perloo. This is basically a one-pot rice dish made by sauteing onion and bell peppers, adding canned or fresh tomatoes, and then adding basmati rice to the pan to cook in the liquid and various spices. At the end the shrimp (not too large) are tossed in to briefly cook in the rice mixture and it’s done! Sounds good to me.

The shrimping industry is withering in Fernandina for many reasons, mostly involving imported shrimp sold at lower prices, and the continuing high costs of operating, fueling and maintaining a shrimp boat. For those of us who know, local, fresh-caught shrimp tastes far better and is healthier to eat than farm-raised shrimp fed lots of antibiotics and other substances. I have seen for myself that farm-raised shrimp in Asia has led to the massive destruction of the mangrove forests that were cut down to make these farms and have harmed the remaining habitats from the chemicals used to farm shrimp.

We as a town, and as individuals, are much better supporting our local shrimpers. And one way to do it is to visit Martin’s stand on the weekends. See you there!

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com