Birthplace of the Modern Shrimping Industry

By Helen Gordon Litrico

     Men have been catching shrimp for thousands of years, but shrimping evolved into the modern commercial industry here in Fernandina early in the 20th century. The evolution was threefold: a change in location from inshore to offshore; a change in method from cast nets, haul seines and bar nets to the modern otter trawl; and a change in power from rowboats and sailboats to fleets of motor-powered vessels. Here¹s where shrimpers put it all together and where the great international fleets of today had their humble beginnings.
   In the early days, local shrimpers found abundant catches in surrounding waters, operating from rowboats with cast nets around Old Town, Nassau Sound, up and down the Amelia River and behind Cumberland Island. Sometimes rowboats shrimped in pairs, pulling a haul seine between them. Even small sailboats caught shrimp with bar nets.

Shrimpboats line the docks along the
Amelia River at the foot of Centre Street.
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    The first marked change in shrimping occurred in 1902, when a Sicilian newcomer named Mike Salvador went out in deeper water over the continental shelf, pulling a haul seine from a power-driven boat, to increase his catch. He formed his own company in 1906 and persuaded other Sicilians to join him - notably his two brothers-in-law, Salvatore Versaggi and Antonio Poli, plus Joseph Gianino. Times were poor, with shrimp selling locally for a nickel a pound, so Versaggi went to New York to work. There he made valuable contacts at the Fulton Fish Market for the future distribution of shrimp before returning to Fernandina in 1912 to found his own company. Versaggi¹s start was hardly promising. When he first shipped shrimp back to New York, the selling price would barely cover express charges. At best, he would be paid with a few postage stamps.
   The real boom in the evolution of Fernandina's shrimping industry came in 1913 when a newcomer from Massachusetts, Captain Billy Corkum, adapted the otter trawl to catch shrimp. This is essentially the same bag-like net with iron weighted doors which you see on shrimping boats today.
   The first power-driven boat to drag the trawl net successfully in deep water was manned by local bar pilot Capt. William Jones Davis. Shrimp were so plentiful then that the first crude trawls worked with great success. In 1922, David Cook and Emmett Freeman refined the local trawl by adding corners and wings for better operation.

This is how the Fernandina docks looked in the 1920's.
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    As the industry¹s main arena moved to St. Augustine, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, Tortugas, Campeche, the Caribbean and South America, Fernandina contributed another important name - Harry F. Sahlman. He pioneered exploratory fishing for Royal Red shrimp in 200-fathom waters, was among the first in opening up Campeche fishing in the 1940s, and provided the major political expertise in opening up South American fishing grounds.
   The founding of the modern shrimping industry was an international effort. More Sicilians followed the pioneers - Bassetta, Litrico, Fazio, Serra and others. There were Portugese (notably the Carinas brothers and Matt Roland), Scandinavians (Johnson, Janson, Hansen, Olsen and Sundeman), Greeks (the Deonas and Tiliakos boat-builders), Louis Hirth from Germany, John Ferguson from Scotland and Dave Tapper from Nova Scotia.
   Many native families were industry pioneers, too - Hardee, Cook, Lucas, Brazzell, Little, Freeman, Wilder, Evatt, Bennett, Burbank, Garenflo, Smith, Merrow, Davenport, Brooks, Fisher, Kelly, Clark, Goffin, Morse and others. Outstanding among the native pioneers were the Hardee brothers, who from 1900 operated a ship's chandlery which evolved into Standard Marine Supply Corp. Today, through affiliated companies, Standard Marine provides shrimping gear all over the world.