Shrimping season begins in Georgia

DARIEN, Ga. (WTOC) - The official Georgia shrimping season kicked off two days ago on June 1. This means that the Georgia coastline is now open for shrimping.

The crew on the Miss Marion hit the waters of the Georgia Coast for opening day.

“We just made one couple day trip.”

They brought back about 1500 pounds of shrimp which Pittman says is a bit less than they normally catch this time of year.

“We usually do a lot better than that, which is why this wasn’t really a good opening. We usually would rather wait until the middle of the month or so,” said shrimper Joey Pittman.

Pittman says they’re often delayed by sharks tearing through their nets.

“We have to take time out to either lace them up or fic them, sew them, it just takes time.”

And this crew may wait a minute before heading back out.

“We’ll probably wait about another week or so for the tides to build back up. Maybe a storm will go by us and stir it around a bit.”

Pittman has been in the shrimping business for 15 years and says he’s hopeful for the rest of the season.

The beaches officially opened for shrimping on June 1, but keep in mind many of these shrimpers fish year-round, just further from shore.

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