Florida
Florida shrimpers race to get battered fleet back to sea
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — The seafood business in southwest Florida is racing towards time and the weather to save lots of what’s left of a serious shrimping fleet — and a life-style — that was battered by Hurricane Ian.
The storm’s ferocious wind and highly effective surge hurled a pair dozen shrimp boats atop wharves and houses alongside the harbor on Estero Island. Jesse Clapham, who oversees a dozen trawlers for a big seafood firm at Fort Myers Seashore, is making an attempt to get boats again to sea as shortly as doable — earlier than their engines, winches and pulleys seize up from being out of the water.
One in every of two shrimpers that did not sink or get tossed onto land went out Sunday, however the victory was small in contrast with the duty forward.
“There’s 300 individuals who work for us and all of them are out of a job proper now. I’m certain they’d slightly simply mow all these things down and construct a large apartment right here, however we’re not going to surrender,” mentioned Clapham, who manages the fishing fleet at Erickson and Jensen Seafood, which he mentioned handles $10 million in shrimp yearly.
The corporate’s fractured wharves, flooded workplace and processing home are situated on Predominant Avenue beside one other giant seafood firm, Trico Shrimp Co. There, a crane lifted the outrigger of grounded shrimper Aces & Eights — step one towards getting it again within the water. Throughout the yard, the large Kayden Nicole and Renee Lynn sat side-by-side within the parking zone, stern to bow.
Shrimping is the most important piece of Florida’s seafood business, with a worth of just about $52 million in 2016, state statistics present. Gulf of Mexico shrimp from Fort Myers has been shipped all around the United States for generations.
Now, it’s a matter of when the fishing can resume and whether or not there’ll nonetheless be skilled crews to function the boats when that occurs.
Deckhand Michele Bryant didn’t simply lose a job when the boat the place she works was grounded, she misplaced her dwelling. Shrimping crews are at sea for so long as two months at a time, she mentioned, so members usually don’t have properties on land.
“I’ve bought nowhere to remain,” she mentioned. “I’m dwelling in a tent.”
Richard Brown’s scenario is simply as precarious. A citizen of Guyana who was engaged on a ship out of Miami when Ian hit southwest Florida, Brown rode out the storm on considered one of 4 boats that had been lashed collectively alongside a harbor seawall.
“We tried to battle the storm. The traces had been bursting. We stored changing them however when the wind turned all people was on land,” he mentioned.
There’s no technique to catch shrimp on a ship surrounded by grime, so Brown is staying busy scraping barnacles off the hull of the Gulf Star. “It’s prefer it’s on dry dock,” he mentioned — however he’s no extra certain what to do now than on the top of the storm.
“It was terrifying – the worst expertise,” mentioned Brown, who’s greater than 2,160 miles (3,480 kilometers) from his dwelling in South America. “I used to be simply pondering, ‘You could possibly abandon the ship.’ However the place are you going?”
Seafood fleets alongside the Gulf Coast are used to getting worn out by hurricanes. Katrina pummeled the business from Louisiana to Alabama in 2005, and the seafood enterprise in southern Louisiana continues to be recovering from Hurricane Ida’s punch final 12 months. However this a part of Florida hasn’t seen a storm like Ian in a century, leaving folks to surprise what occurs subsequent.
Dale Kalliainen and his brother adopted their father into the shrimping enterprise and owns the trawler Night time Wind, which landed amid a cell dwelling park close to a bridge. He mentioned excessive gas costs and low-cost imported seafood took a chunk out the business lengthy earlier than Ian did its worst.
“There was 300 boats on this harbor and now there’s perhaps 50,” he mentioned. “It’s going to be in all probability years earlier than this enterprise is even near being again to what it was.”
Clapham, the 47-year-old fleet supervisor, has spent his complete life on shrimp boats. The business already operates on a skinny margin and wishes assist recovering from Ian, he mentioned.
“These boats exit and catch $60,000, $70,000 value of shrimp a month, however it prices $30,000 to $50,000 to place gas on them and groceries and provides, and then you definitely’ve bought to pay the crew. And typically these boats’ (catches) don’t even pay for all the things,” he mentioned. “We take cash from one boat and get one other boat going and ship ’em again fishing simply to maintain going.”
- At least six people have died in rip currents over two days.
- All six victims were visitors to Florida.
- The parents of six children were among the victims.
“It’s just too dangerous to swim right now.” That was the warning Sunday from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida after announcing double red flag warnings and closing the water to swimmers.
Over the span of two days, at least six people were killed in rip currents along Florida beaches.
Three Alabama men who went for an evening swim shortly after arriving at a Florida Panhandle beach were caught in a rip current and died, authorities say.
The young men had traveled to the Panama City Beach area Friday evening with a group of friends and had just checked into their rental and gone for a swim when they went into distress, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in an updated Facebook post Saturday evening.
“The three men were caught in a rip current shortly after entering the water,” the post said.
The sheriff’s office had received the initial emergency call about the distressed swimmers shortly after 8 p.m., officials said. The U.S. Coast Guard and others began rescue efforts. The men were found separately and eventually pronounced dead at area hospitals, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office identified the three as Birmingham, Alabama, residents Harold Denzel Hunter, 25, Jemonda Ray, 24, and Marius Richardson, 24. Earlier this week, single red flags had been posted at the beach, indicating high-hazard surf and rip current conditions.
A Pennsylvania couple died in a rip current on a Florida beach Thursday while on vacation with their six children.
The incident happened about an hour north of West Palm Beach at Hutchinson Island, a barrier island in Martin County on the Atlantic coast.
Brian Warter, 51, and Erica Wishard, 48, were visiting with their six kids, most of whom are teenagers, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
They were swimming outside of an area farther up the beach that’s protected by lifeguards and where red flags warned of the danger.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that two children were able to break free of the current and tried to help their parents but were forced to swim ashore when conditions became too dangerous.
Also on Thursday, a 19-year-old visiting Panama City Beach from Oklahoma drowned after getting separated from a friend, WJHG.com reported. Fire Chief Ray Morgan said the young man was swimming under single red flag conditions.
Panama City Rescue lifeguards pulled him out of the surf and started CPR but they were unable to save him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Florida
Joe LeBlanc’s Florida District 22 All-Stars Little League Report – Saturday, June 22 – Space Coast Daily
THE SPACE COAST DAILY – FRIDAY NIGHT LOCKER ROOM TEAM IS BREVARD’S #1 SPORTS SOURCE
BREVARD COUNTY • MIMS, FLORIDA – The Florida District 22 All-Star Tournament for 2024 continued Saturday night with the 8/9/10 Baseball Division at Holder Park in Mims.
Game 1:
The All-stars from District 11’s St. Augustine Little League (visitor) met the All-stars from District 19’s Lake Mary LL. St. Augustine’s first 3 batters, Brady Leth, Josiah Engleman, and Liam Drozd reached base and scored. Lake Mary answered back in the 2nd inning with Mason Williams’ solo homer followed by Colton Hallman and Fenn Morin reaching base and scoring to tie the game at 3.
The skies opened up with rain in the 3rd inning with the score still tied at 3-3. After 2 hours of raking, splashing about, several bags of Speedy Dry, and a lot of help from volunteers, the fields were back to playable and the game continued. St. Augustine’s Drozd scored 2 more runs, while Micah Bush, Evan Gaskins, and Colby Frink hit home runs.
Isaiah Holden hit a Grand Slam in the 4th inning helping St. Augustine to capture the win with a score of 19-3. St. Augustine’s win set up the remaining games for the day.
Game 2:
District 22’s Mims LL (visitor) played District 19’s Lake Mary LL. Mims started the scoring in the first inning when Noah Denoro reached base and Mason Selph brought him in with a 2-run homer.
But Lake Mary answered back in their half of the first with runs from Phoenix Hallman and Carter Picard.
Mims’ M. Selph would homer again on a full count in the 6th, but it wouldn’t be enough as Lake Mary’s P. Hallman, Picard, and Jax Padgett would each score twice in their team’s 10-3 victory.
Game 3:
District 11’s St. Augustine LL (visitor) was then matched against District 22’s Mims LL in the final game of the day. The game was close and went into the 5th tied at 1 after St. Augustine’s Brady Leth scored in the 1st and Mims’ Brayden Madison homered in the 2nd inning.
Mims’ Mason Selph would homer in the 6th to break the tie and become the eventual winning run as Mims defeated St. Augustine 2-1.
With all three teams tied at 1-1, Little League’s Runs Allowed Ratio needed to be used to determine a tournament champion.
With only 5 runs allowed throughout the tournament, St. Augustine LL claimed the title and will represent Section 3 at the Florida Intermediate (50/70) Baseball State Tournament starting on Friday, June 28th, and hosted by Palmetto Little League.
CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY SPORTS
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