DARIEN — Brian Richburg sensed an opportunity in 2020 when he purchased Miss Kristin, a commercial shrimping trawler.
Gasoline was cheap. Shrimp prices were climbing. And along Darien’s famed docks, veteran boat operators were retiring or leaving the volatile industry. As a successful charter fishing boat captain, Richburg thought he’d timed the market.
Then came the 2020 election, post-COVID-19 inflation and a surge in imported shrimp.
“When President Trump left office, it took the power away from us in this industry,” Richburg said. “Fuel, materials and everything else that allows us to go shrimping went up, while shrimp prices stayed the same. But that’s about to change.”
Richburg and others tied to Georgia’s shrimp industry anticipate a strong 2025 once commercial shrimping resumes in late May or early June. Donald Trump is back in the White House, and his 10% tariffs on imports and an executive order signed April 17 meant to boost American seafood production has Georgia shrimpers eager to get their nets in the water.
The federal action is likely to disrupt a market currently dominated by foreign shrimp farmers in Asia and Latin America who account for 90% of the shrimp consumed in the U.S.
The glut of cheap shrimp left Georgia shrimpers “just about for dead,” Richburg said. On the Darien waterfront only two shrimp docks remain, and one of those is about to close.
“Now there’s hope for those of us who stuck it out,” he said.
Richburg hopes that a wild-caught shrimp renaissance will last. Shrimp is now the most popular seafood in the U.S. but he suspects many consumers don’t appreciate the difference in taste between his catch and the pond-raised shrimp.
“We know that plump, sweet shrimp is superior, but we live on the beach,” he said. “It might take a while, but we’re hopeful we’re going to gain back the business.”
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