Jimmy Driggers and his wife Shirley pose for a portrait on October 28, 2022 in Pine Island, Fla., where their home was severely flooded by high tides from Hurricane Ian in September.
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Jimmy Driggers and his wife Shirley pose for a portrait on October 28, 2022 in Pine Island, Fla., where their home was severely flooded by high tides from Hurricane Ian in September.
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Jimmy Draggers, 85, started his fishing business at the age of 13. He is a shrimp fisherman in Fort Myers, Fla.
“I am a mullet fisherman, [a] commercial fisherman in my younger days,” he said.
The driver walks with a prosthetic leg after an injury he sustained on his boat about a decade ago. It is decorated with a lighthouse on the sea.
He owns a shrimp boat – the Miz Shirley – named after his wife. It can carry 50,000 pounds of shrimp.
Driggers said the industry has been damaged for decades, and he was given more back in the 1980s than he does today. Fuel prices skyrocketed.
“You have to produce a lot of shrimp to be able to survive,” Driggers said. “And that’s what we did last year – just floating, not earning enough to fix anything that’s broken. It’s tough.”
Then came Hurricane Ian. It pushed The Miz Shirley halfway up the breakwater and half was left in the water — unusable.
Debris left by Hurricane Ian is seen behind the home of Jimmy and Shirley Driggers on Pine Island, Fla., on October 28, 2022.
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When Ian made landfall in Florida in late September, it had a particularly severe impact on the shrimp industry. For decades, it has been an important part of Fort Myers’ economy – integral to the culture and identity of the area. Now, it is deadlocked.
“We were thinking of selling out, but I didn’t want to do that, if we could keep it,” Driggers said. “If we can just get the boat out and fix it, and get it back to normal.” He admits that it will take a lot of work.
The driver’s house, where the aqueduct is located, will have to be demolished. It had 4 inches of water in the storm and mold was growing everywhere. He and Shirley don’t have flood insurance.
A fishing dock across from Fort Myers Beach, Fla., suffered significant damage when dozens of fishing boats were forced inland by Hurricane Ian on October 28, 2022.
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The couple slept in a donated camp on their front lawn. They hope the boat’s insurance will cover enough repairs to keep the business afloat – but they have yet to assess the damage.
Despite all these uncertainties, Jimmy will not consider retirement. Shirley says he won’t walk away from the water.
“There’s a smell when everything is natural, there’s a smell here that can’t be found anywhere else,” says Jimmy. “I’ve been to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but here smells to me.”
“It’s the smell of water,” Shirley said, finishing her husband’s sentence.
With the boats still on land, there is uncertainty
Down at the shrimp fishing pier at Fort Myers Beach, piles of boats line the sea walls and roads. A large hydraulic excavator with tow tractors is ripping apart a boat to be hauled to a landfill.
On the Fort Myers coast, only 45 boats are licensed to fish for shrimp. They mainly catch pink shrimp – a highly priced delicacy known for its sweet taste and firm flesh.
Roger Schmall, left, owner of the shrimp boat Kayden Nicole, and Christine Gala, owner of the Trico Shrimp Company, pose for a portrait at the shrimp landing dock in Fort Myers, Fla., on October 28 2022. Schmall’s boat, though, is reusing some of the parts for individual sale.
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“All the people who work for us – whether they work on boats, fish houses, markets, and even me – we are no longer paid,” says Christine Gala, owner of Trico Shrimp Company. more salary”. With a fleet of 12 ships, Trico is one of two large shrimp companies on San Carlos Island in Fort Myers Beach.
“We don’t have a job – except to call people and beg them to get our boat back into the water,” she said.
None of Gala’s boats are covered. Since Ian’s success, she has taken on a leadership role.
Gala kept calling, calling crane operators and state officials asking for help – to get boats back into the water and rebuild critical infrastructure. The shrimp fishing docks were completely destroyed.
Then the water will need to be cleaned – it is full of dock litter and other debris.
A fishing boat dock across from Fort Myers Beach, Fla., suffered significant damage when multiple fishing and shrimp boats were forced inland by Hurricane Ian on October 28, 2022.
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Shrimp fishing is a small, but valuable, industry in the United States, worth $37 million. More than 75% of pink shrimp harvested in the US comes from the west coast of Florida.
Andrew Ropicki, a lecturer in marine resource economics at the University of Florida, says the industry has struggled to compete with foreign imports since the 1980s.
But he is optimistic that it is possible to recover from Ian.
“If the federal and state agencies and others involved look at it and see the importance of this – one of the last truly functioning waterfronts is located in a metropolitan area,” said Ropicki. very high,” said Ropicki.
“I hope. I know there are people who are doing it and trying to help these people,” he said.
‘A Very Strong Community’: Shrimp Farmers Stay Committed to Fishing and Going to Fort Myers
Joanne Semmer is president of the Ostego Bay Marine Science Center, a local environmental nonprofit in Fort Myers. She lives on San Carlos Island, just steps from the commercial fishing docks and active waterfront. Her neighborhood is filled with wreckage and boats – and her home was flooded during Ian’s time.
Joanne Semmer, a longtime resident of San Carlos Island, Fla., poses for a portrait at her home, which was flooded by Hurricane Ian on October 27, 2022.
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Semmer says that despite many challenges – including government regulations and limited harbors – the shrimp industry has adapted to the change.
“We have a very strong community – it’s an old fishing village community,” says Semmer. “People live here because that’s where they want to be.”
Ricky Moran is the captain of a fishing boat called The Galante. He started fishing with his father when he was 9 years old.
Moran said he finds serenity in the water – and he wants to stay in Fort Myers, where he has lived and worked for 35 years.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Moran said. “I’ll stay here and help clean up. I love Fort Myers Beach.”
Ricky Moran, an experienced shrimp boat captain who works from shrimp docks on San Carlos Island near Fort Myers Beach, Fla., poses for a portrait on Saturday, October 28, 2022.
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At the pier, Moran, 58, made his way through the wreckage to the spot where The Galante landed. The boat lay on its side, wedged between two other large ships, next to a severely damaged mobile home park.
Moran not only lost his boat, but also his house. He lives in The Galante and with his girlfriend weathered the storm on the ship.
But for now, Moran wanted to stay on land. He is still haunted by memories of the storm. Unable to return to his boat, Moran is currently living in a marina tent and applying to FEMA’s unemployment program.
Ricky Moran, a shrimp boat captain in Fort Myers, Fla, walks among the remains of mobile homes and boats near the fishing docks in Fort Myers in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on May 28. October 2022.
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He is stuck in limbo, waiting – like dozens of others – to get back on the boat in the industry that provides not only his home but also his way of life. He was emotional when he talked about why he stayed.
“I love this stuff,” Moran said. “I’m a commercial fisherman – I’m Captain Ricky. I can leave. Go to Mobile [Alabama] and get a boat – but I want to see this here come back. “
