On Wednesday, May 27, I dropped by the Port Royal Shrimp Company to see what was going on. Lots of pretty shrimp, of course -- these are the big white roe shrimp. I walked out on the docks to check out the boats. To my surprise, there were a couple of guys hauling ice up OUT of a boat. I've seen fishermen get ice INTO the boat using various means -- shovels, blowers, blocks etc. -- but never, ever ever seen them take ice out like that.
Turns out it was special ice, because it was a special catch. Mahi, swordfish and shark, caught offshore, destined for the markets in the big city. I was impressed by the care they took processing and packing the fish for shipping.
After hauling a big barrel full of ice off the boat, the men shoveled some of that, beautiful, pristine, powdery ice into a giant octagonal or pentagonal or whatever cardboard box. It was sitting on a pallet. So there is this layer of ice on the bottom of the box. Then the guys started using the winch to haul the big fish off of the boat.
The fish were immaculate. They had been headed and gutted and cleaned, then stuffed full of the magic ice, so they kept a thorough chill going. They filled up the box with as many fish as they could, put more ice in, and used the forklift to haul the pallet up to a truck on the hill.
The truck was almost as beautiful as the ice, and just as clean. With a giant Carrier cooling system that looked state of the art. I've never seen fish get so much TLC. But that's because they are worth thousands of dollars, and they are sought after by demanding chefs. Someone's probably eating a $20 mahi sandwich up in New York as we speak, fresh from the waters off of Port Royal.
Bon Voyage, fish.
