Down on Prince Street in Brunswick, shrimp boats tied up at the docks form a backdrop that would cause an artist to salivate and reach for his canvas and brush.
The weathered docks are old, and the disheveled shrimp boats, with their aging masts and riggings, are also old. Yet, this scene, with sea gulls squawking and searching for scraps of food, remains charming and soulful. Weather-beaten docks and the accompanying waters that meander through the marshes and link-up with the ocean on the distant horizon bring about a nostalgic scene, which has enraptured men forever.
These are not the best of times for shrimpers who have seen the down economy affect their livelihood like never before. Fuel costs in recent years brought hardship. With fewer people eating out and restaurants reducing food costs, survival has become difficult.
You can help Georgia shrimpers when you eat out by ordering “wild Georgia shrimp.” If you eat farm-raised shrimp, you are ingesting food that likely has been tainted by antibiotics. Wild Georgia shrimp is healthier by a long shot. If enough of us go for wild shrimp, our state’s shrimpers may emerge from their shaky status.
John Wallace and Richard Vendetti, officers of the Georgia Shrimp Association, are teaming to find ways for the state’s shrimpers to better market their shrimp. John, who grew up in the fishing village of Shellman Bluff in McIntosh County, owns two shrimp boats and knows firsthand the hard life of the business. During the season, which usually lasts from late April to mid-January, a shrimp boat may leave the dock at 3 a.m. to get to the fishing grounds early and usually returns home after dark.
Sometimes it is more efficient to stay out for three and four days, sleeping on the boat under the stars with the rocking motion of the water putting you to sleep after a hard day’s work. Shrimpers are always lean and leathery. They love their blue-collar life on the water, but it is getting tougher and tougher to extract a profit from the sea.
Georgia’s modern shrimp industry began in 1902 when a Greek named Mike Salvador built the first boat to be fitted with nets and gas motors.
With refrigeration, the industry exploded, as Greek, Italian and Polish immigrants, along with the coastal natives, became the mainstays of shrimping which has always been a family business.
What the shrimpers want you to know is that if you ask for wild Georgia shrimp when you dine out, you are getting the best and can be certain that they are not tainted with antibiotics, which you get when you eat farm-raised shrimp. Farm-raised shrimp from China and Thailand, for example, may contain chloramphenicol, which has cancer-producing agents.
“We are,” says John Wallace, “the victim of free trade, which has allowed for all the imported shrimp to flood the market because it is cheaper. That makes it hard for us to compete, even though we have a much better product.”
“For me,” says Joe Barnett, a Washington, Ga., chef, “eating farm-raised shrimp would be like drinking rot-gut liquor. Ain’t too healthy!”
If farm-raised shrimp aren’t good enough for Joe, then they aren’t good enough for me. And, like Joe, when I eat out, if the restaurant doesn’t serve wild Georgia shrimp, I’ll either eat something else or move on to another restaurant.
When shrimp boats are tied up at the docks in Savannah, Darien and Brunswick, I want them to be taking a break from their labors — not because too many of us are eating imported shrimp.

Loran Smith is affiliated with the University of Georgia and can be reached via e-mail at loransmithathens@bellsouth.net.