< Previous10 COASTMONTHLY.COM | AuguST 2019FROM THE EDITOROn a beautiful Fourth of July evening, my husband, my two teenage nieces and I walked along Galveston’s seawall to find a good spot to watch the city’s spectacular fireworks show.As we walked along, my husband and I picked up plastic bottles and bags rolling and blowing along the seawall, lest they end up on the beach and in the Gulf of Mexico.We groused about what sort of people could be so careless with such a pernicious type of pollution.People can always disappoint. But not all people. In this issue, you’ll find charter boat owners and just plain good citizens who are working diligently to protect the Gulf and bays by cleaning up miles and miles of discarded fishing line that can ensnare marine life or balloons that trash the water and can also hurt sea creatures.You’ll also meet some shrimpers who represent a fading way of life here.Years ago, the waters were teeming with shrimp boats. But with cheap imports and other changes in the industry, a once vibrant part of the region is disappearing.Like most people who live here, I’m a little protective of the Gulf. I also understand what it means to the many thousands of people here who depend on it to earn a living.My hope is that this issue inspires more people to protect it and care for it. I also hope that on Fourth of July, I set an example to my nieces, who I hope will be able to enjoy it as I have all my life.LAURA ELDERCoast Monthly EditorPROTECTING THE GULF AND A WAY OF LIFEphoto by STUART VILLANUEVAShrimp boats ply the waters of Galveston’s harbor at sunrise.BEACHSIDE VILLAGE3815 NEPTUNE | $629,000TERRAMAR22910 MARTES | $280,000PIRATES BEACH4002 SAN DOMINGO CT. | $470,000PIRATES BEACH4102 FIDDLER CRAB LN. | $475,000SEA ISLE4019 JACKSON | $269,900• Galveston Association of Realtors 2018 MLS Chairman• GAR 2014, 2015, 2016 MLS Committee Member• Accredited Buyer Representative - ABR• Seller Representative Specialist - SRS• Resort & Second Home Priority Specialist - RSPS• Notary PublicLINDA SIVYRealtor Associate WORKING PARTNER TO SUE JOHNSONOVER 25 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE RELATED EXPERIENCE409.599.5847lsivy@heritagetexas.com• Honored 8 times by the Houston Business Journal for Closed Transactions• Honored by H Texas Magazine• Honored by Heritage Texas Properties as Top 5 Producers in 2013-2018• Honored by Heritage Texas Properties as Top Listing Agent & Most Closed Transactions Companywide in 2017 & 2018• Nationally recognized as a Real Trends Top 250 Real Estate Professional for Closed Transactions & Dollar VolumeCONSISTENTLY RANKED AMONG THE TOP TWO PRODUCERS ON GALVESTON ISLAND FOR DOLLAR VOLUME & NUMBER OF CLOSED TRANSACTIONSOVER 45 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCESUE JOHNSONBroker Associate, GRI 409.682.9050 sue@heritagetexas.comPIRATES BEACH4206 SANDPIPER LN. | $392,500PIRATES BEACH4015 SHALLOW REEF | $629,000GALVESTON HISTORIC1227 WINNIE | $679,000SEA ISLE22201 MATAGORDA | $349,900SEA ISLE4003 NAVARRO | $199,000SEASCAPE CONDOMINIUM10811 SAN LUIS PASS #2101 | $280,000TIKI ISLAND930 LONG REACH | $779,000LAFITTE’S COVE13806 WINDLASS CIR. | $625,000JAMAICA BEACH16630 FRANCIS DRAKE | $289,000SEA ISLE21906 SAN LUIS PASS RD. | $299,000TRIMBLE & LINDSEY12240 JENKINS RD. | $939,000JUST REDUCEDJUST REDUCEDJUST REDUCED12 COASTMONTHLY.COM | AuguST 2019SHORELINESWE ASKED ON FACEBOOK: What’s your favorite local seafood restaurant, what do you always order and why?gilhooley’s. Fried shrimp and their seafood crab cakes are delicious. The shrimp coleslaw is the best I’ve tasted.Stacey GottlobI live in north galveston County and frequent Opus Ocean grille. My go-to items are the crab cake and bacon-wrapped shrimp.Chris ClodfelterSoft shell crabs at TopWater grill in San Leon.Jill Nagel KaaleThe Reef in Texas City. Hubby and I have been going there on special days for over 20 years. We order shrimp, mostly fried, all you can eat and yummy hushpuppies to munch on while waiting.Carol Egert JonesI still have many places to try, but my favorite dish is fried shrimp. Waterman’s has the best I have tried yet. Very tasty!Sharolyn YatesThe Oysters 3 Ways at Black Pearl is better than any baked oyster dish I’ve had anywhere, including NOLA. usually follow it up with their very generous shrimp po-boy. Their desserts might be good, too, but I wouldn’t know — I never leave room!Pam AliFisherman’s Wharf. I always get panko flounder and bread pudding. Heavenly. great atmo-sphere/view, wonderful staff and the food ... yum!Bobbey WhiteSaltwater grill. Asian-grilled shrimp.Tom ValliereShrimp ‘N Stuff in galveston! Love their shrimp po-boys. Their place was the first time I ever ate shrimp.Denise Sowell SheadLandry’s on Seawall Boulevard. “Oyster Bar Trash” and red snap-per. Plus, the beach and gulf vistas are spectacular!Jim RosenfeldBLVD. The broiled flounder, any of their seafood samplers, grouper and red snapper.Carly SuzanneIncredible and unexpected — Shark Shack Beach Bar & grill’s Cajun Shrimp Fondue is to die for.Jaree Fortingaido’s. Red Snapper Michael.Mandy McGuire RiderCoastal grill. Fried shrimp. Simply the best — food and staff.Forest RiggsBenno’s. Crawfish etouffee or seafood platter.Rex Joy NatividadI would give anything to have one last meal at Clary’s. Saltwater grill is next on the list since Clary’s is no longer.Casey MillerCajun greek. grouper, crawfish (in the season) greek salad with shrimp and tuna and their sangria.Karolina KilbergerovaFish Company Taco. The fish of the day collar, no matter the kind. I love grouper collar with red curry she has done. It’s always different and delicious!Wendy LeCornu Morgangumbo Diner on the seawall: Fried shrimp. Soul2soul: Fried cat-fish. TopWater grill: Everything.Chanee Gentry RobinsonBLVD. Seafood. Two besties: Salmon on Cedar Plank is amazing and the Fish Stack. Also, the grilled oyster appetizer. Yummers.Joyce McLeanphotos by JENNIFER REYNOLDSVietnamese and Korean-style tacos at Fish Company Taco in Galveston.The fried shrimp po-boy from Shrimp ’N Stuff in Galveston.The expertise toKEEPYOU MOVINGAt Houston Methodist Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Clear Lake, we know every movement matters. Our specialists offer:•The latest imaging and technology•Advanced nonsurgical treatments•Minimally invasive procedures•Customized treatment plans•State-of-the-art physical and occupational therapyWhether you’re suffering from simple aches and pains or dealing with a complex injury, we can get you back on your feet — and keep you moving. Schedule an appointment:houstonmethodist.org/sportsmed713.363.9090Nassau BayLeague CityClear Lake14 COASTMONTHLY.COM | AuguST 2019A shrimp boat drags up its net as gulls swoop overhead near Galveston’s harbor. COASTMONTHLY.COM | AuguST 2019 15FEATURE‘NOBODY’S GOING TO REPLACE US’Stung by cheap imports, stiff state regulations, fewer shrimpers hang onstory by KERI HEATH | photos by STUART VILLANUEVADonny Stanfield sat in the cabin of his bob-bing shrimp boat near the Texas City Dike and gazed out across the water.“You pick a beacon,” Stanfield said. “A boat comes out and he sees you’re at that beacon. He has to give you a mile.”That’s one of many rules Stanfield, whose boat’s name is Dying Breed, learned by shrimping in Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, he said.The 53-year-old has been shrimping since he was a teenager, and he’s out on the boat every day except Christmas, he said.There are a lot of rules for shrimpers to learn, Stanfield said.Like most rules, these came about to keep order and hark back to a time when shrimp were plenty, fuel was cheap and the water was crowded with boats dragging nets.Donny Stanfield talks about the shrimping industry while sitting in the pilothouse of his boat docked at the Texas City Dike.Donny Stanfield has been shrimping for 40 years out of Texas City and La Porte. COASTMONTHLY.COM | AuguST 2019 17FEATURE‘THERE’S JUST NOBODY’Generations learned the rules chasing shrimp and live-lihoods in the Gulf and Galveston Bay, but fewer people are stepping up to learn the ropes these days, and the keepers of the knowledge all are getting older.Shrimping along the upper Texas coast is what many would call a dying industry, one that’s fading to cheaper imports and a preference for jobs that require college de-grees. The state of Texas, worried about overfishing, has for years been offering incentives for shrimpers to hang up their nets.When Stanfield started shrimping, fights would break out when someone broke the rules, he said.“It’s not like that anymore, because there’s just nobody,” Stanfield said.Texas shrimpers also used to get into arguments with the Vietnamese shrimpers who immigrated to the area, Stanfield said. The immigrants came in the 1970s and 1980s, refugees from the fall of South Vietnam, and their arrival led to fights over territory and about competition.Sometimes, it was difficult to communicate with the Vietnamese about the established rules, Stanfield said.HARDER TO COMPETEBut it’s not like that anymore, he said. There are no fights, and the Vietnamese shrimpers stick to the flats, or the shallow water areas, he said.Besides, they’re all getting older and fewer, too, he said.It’s not a life John Harrison’s children wanted, he said.Harrison has been shrimping for 35 years, ever since he graduated high school in 1981, he said.He normally shrimps in the northern part of Galves-ton Bay, but water conditions after a March fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. facility in Deer Park, which released chemicals, including benzene, into the bay, have pushed him farther south, he said.For now, he’s putting his boat in at Katie’s Seafood Market on Pier 19, he said.Harrison loves being out on the water all day and act-ing as his own boss, but the price of fuel is skyrocketing and it’s getting harder to compete with cheap farm-raised shrimp imported from Asia, he said.It’s a hard life, getting harder and there are few takers, he said.“Nobody’s going to replace us,” Harrison said. “When I’m gone, none of my kids are going to do it.”(Above) Gulls swarm shrimp boats in Galveston’s harbor. (Opposite) Donny Stanfield has been shrimping for 40 years out of Texas City and La Porte.18 COASTMONTHLY.COM | AuguST 2019 COASTMONTHLY.COM | AuguST 2019 19FEATURE‘NOT ANOTHER JOB’Gulf and bay shrimping are incredible ex-periences for those who are committed to it, said Mary Smith, who, with her sister, owns Hillman’s Seafood Inc., 5516 Hillman Drive in Dickinson.“Just to work here on the water day in and day out — it’s amazing,” Smith said. “It’s peaceful.”There’s an art to fishing that requires lots of practice and knowledge of tides and moon phases, Smith said.But it’s getting harder and harder for peo-ple to stay in the industry, Smith said.Gulf and bay shrimpers can’t feed Texas consumers’ appetite for seafood, so a lot of the shrimp sold in local grocery stores is imported from places such as China and Vietnam, Smith said.That shrimp, which is farm raised, is produced a lot cheaper than the expense required to harvest local shrimp, and this drives down prices, Smith said.Smith is 64 and she’s been in this industry since she was young, she said.“There’s probably not another job I could get at this age,” Smith said.‘BIGGER THAN SHRIMP’The imported shrimp is a blow to the local industry, but shrimpers also are limited by state-imposed standards, she said.In 1995, the Texas Parks & Wildlife De-partment implemented a program aimed at reducing the number of commercial shrimping licenses along the Texas coast as a method to reduce overfishing.The department launched a buyback and limited entry program under which it pur-chases inshore licenses from shrimpers who volunteer and put a moratorium on new licenses, said Lance Robinson, department division director for coastal fisheries.The department has since placed similar moratoriums on other sectors of the fishing industry, including Gulf shrimp, he said.In 1995, there were about 3,200 active shrimp licenses along the Texas coast. Since the program began, the department has spent $13.7 million to purchase 2,180 of those licenses, Robinson said.This moratorium, along with bag weight and time-of-year limits, is meant to preserve the health of the bay, Robinson said.(From top) Mike Morris mends a net at Hillman’s Seafood in Dickinson. Morris, who has been shrimping for 46 years, is now retired and runs the seafood market; boats float at the docks at Hillman’s. (Opposite) Junior Dunn sorts freshly caught shrimp at Hillman’s after a run.Next >