Do you like to go fishing? My Dad loved to take his rod and reel and sit for hours trying to hook a fish. Mom learned to like going with him, mainly because she wanted to share life with Dad. My sister got “hooked” too. Me? I would rather do anything else. But as the youngest, I had to go along with the family and not complain because it would ruin their day. Dad would bait my hook, take off any fish I may have caught, and clean it. I loved eating it after Mom would fry it up with sliced potatoes when we were camping (that’s a whole other story). What’s your story?
In this post we’re going to walk through a fairly new museum in Biloxi that highlights all of the types of fishing that happened along the Gulf over the years that supported families. Before we came here, all I knew about fishing in the Gulf came from shrimping that Lt. Dan and Forrest Gump did. If you’re not one who likes fishing, I’ll show you what I found to be interesting, because this is really about how people’s livelihoods. Time to put on your walking shoes.
the TED – protecting turtles
When we’ve spent time in the South along any coast, we’ve found that sea turtles need protecting. Here’s a device that commercial fishermen have used to protect these creatures.
Fine mesh trawl nets catch marine organisms along with the catches. An ensnared, air-breathing sea turtle cannot return to the surface and will drown, so they need some help from a TED. In the early 1980s, the National Fisheries Marine Service (NMFS) developed the TED to be placed well inside the trawl.
Metal grids that are part of the trawl net structure act as a barrier for large creatures, such as sea turtles, to prevent them from passing through the bars into the capture end of the net.
A small opening either above or below the grid allows escape. Shrimp ideally pass through the grid into the tail of the trawl. Sea grasses and other debris [plastic bottles?} can sometimes block the passages.
trawlers
Historically shrimp trawlers were uniform in shape and dimension and were usually a flat-bottom boat. The boats pulled a 90- to 100-foot flat trawl (or smaller balloon or semi-balloon trawls).
Normally a vessel would drag for 12 hours and then anchor to allow its crew to rest.
More information about shrimping that developed over the years is included later in this post.
oystering
Multitudes of oyster shells have been found in local Native American middens (refuse heap), and early French arrivals found that they could be easily harvested by hand just off shore.
For years oysters were part of the local diet, and then commercial exploitation started early in the 1880s. By the end of the 1800s, Biloxi led the world in oyster shipments.
But before this birth of the Biloxi oyster canning industry, boats from New Orleans and Mobile were tonging oysters in the Mississippi Sound.
What is tonging oysters? Per AI, “tonging for oysters is a traditional, labor-intensive method of harvesting them by hand using long, scissor-like poles with rakes (tongs) to scoop oysters from shallow beds, a technique popular in the Chesapeake Bay and Prince Edward Island, requiring strength, patience, and good weather, as it involves lowering the tongs, raking the bottom, and culling undersized oysters before they’re sold or eaten.”
Today local oyster reefs have been diminished because of harvests by both man and damage from hurricanes.
oyster dredging
Biloxi oyster schooners used a winch or “winder” and dredge system to harvest from local reefs. A triangular dredge, attached to a hand-cranked winch by rope and chain, was pulled across a reef by the schooner using 3 sails. After each “pass,” the dredge was winched aboard and its contents dumped on deck.
The dredge table was a system of one vertical roller and one horizontal roller affixed to the railing of an oyster vessel. This device enabled the cable and dredge to be winched aboard smoothly.
The size of the rollers was determined by the width of the dredge.
Since the men were on the boats for so long, of course they had to eat. The following galley box served on one of Biloxi’s oyster schooners.
In addition to seafood, dried beans were a staple. Often cooking was done in a “slumgullion” style, meaning a different ingredient was added to the food already in the pot. Usually located on the port side of the schooner next to the steerage, the galley box, which held whatever was cooking along with the coffee pot, was watched over by the captain. He was probably the only man who stayed in one place and could keep an eye on what was being cooked.
oyster car
It was used for moving oysters from a docked vessel to the processing factory as it rolled still packed with oysters into a large steam box. When not being used, planks were placed on top to provide a handy table for shrimp pickers.
Cars were filled from vessels docked pier side and rolled into the factory and then into the steam box.
Whether loaded with oysters or piled with shrimp, the oyster car was surrounded by 8 shuckers or pickers.
The workers’ payment usually took the form of a factory token featuring a designated monetary denomination.
Earlier we talked about oysters knives that each worker had. It was a handmade tool used to pierce the bill of the oyster and remove the meat.
Shuckers also used a cotton glove with 2 thumbs so it could be reversed when a side was too worn. A similar glove was used by corn shuckers.
crabbing
According to AI: “Crabbing in the Gulf of Mexico primarily targets blue crabs, a popular activity done year-round (with seasonal closures like Mississippi’s winter sanctuary) using baited traps, handlines, or drop nets from piers, marshes, or boats, requiring licenses in many areas and adherence to size/possession limits (like the 5-inch minimum in MS) to ensure sustainability. Popular spots include coastal areas and piers in states like Mississippi and Alabama, with peak times in spring and fall, and regulations differing by state.”
shrimping
As previously mentioned, we have some more information about the evolution of shrimping in the Gulf.
It was then loaded into the holds of shrimp boats before they left a factory for fishing. The ice was later shoveled over the catch to keep it fresh. Makes sense.
So how did the shrimp catches that were handled by hand transition to the cans of shrimp that we see in the grocery stores today? The following invention was the answer.
The mass-production of food with machinery has made possible the feeding of a growing population. In 1943, James Lapeyre (when he was only 16), stepped on a shrimp while wearing rubber boots, observing that it popped from its shell. After being challenged by his father, James designed a shrimp-peeling machine that came from that principle.
Eventually the volume of shrimp had to be processed and put in cans.
Baskets filled with packed cans were lowered into the approximately 8-foot deep cooker that had been sunken into the floor.
So why was this steaming important? Here’s what AI has to say:
“Cans of shrimp were steamed (or heat-processed in retorts) before selling to sterilize the contents, kill bacteria, and create a vacuum seal, making the food shelf-stable and safe for long-term preservation without refrigeration, a revolutionary technique from Nicolas Appert, perfected by inventors like A.K. Shriver for mass production. This process cooked the shrimp and prevented spoilage, turning a perishable item into a durable product for storage and transport.”
Following the cooking process, the cans were taken to a labeling machine where the brand name was applied.
We’ve learned so much about the fishing industry in the Gulf; now to some art that’s been inspired by the Gulf.
Copper Meets Coast display
Remember we got to have a piece of King Cake on the first day possible in Epiphany? Well today was the first day that the following display was open.
How did this man who looks like he’s used to working outside with his hands get started with this copper artwork? For years he designed and implemented landscaping, requiring him to learn how to work with copper pipes. This experience, combined with his artistic abilities, allows him to create art from the Gulf. So glad we got to meet him.
Next we’ll be touring the only antebellum house that wasn’t destroyed by Hurricane Catrina.
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