In late 1949, 100 years after the peak of the California Gold Rush, Pink Gold was discovered off the Florida Keys near Dry Tortugus. The “gold” was a grooved variety of shrimp called “pink” shrimp in the industry – scientifically Panaeus duorarum. In early 1950, the first shrimpers arrived in Key West looking to off load and process their treasures. On February 11, 1950, The New York Times likened the Pink Gold Rush to that of the Klondike gold strike in the late 1890’s.
More than 100 vessels were already at Key West with another 100 reported to be on their way. Fishing vessels and companies “staked claims” to docking space and freezing facilities; ice was being imported from Miami and rooms were hard to come by. The Paulsen-Webber Cordage Corporation reported an upsurge in the demand of “shrimp rope” and wire rope and shifted all production schedules to give priority to the urgent requests.
“Pink Gold,” being nocturnal feeders, meant the best catches were made at night but the lack of sounding equipment and the presence of coral formations made fishing difficult. Continuing the trend at WW II’s end, the new trawlers being built were larger, more powerful, better equipped, and capable of longer distances from port and longer times at sea. In 1950, the fleet expansion continued rapidly with the desire, not only for “Pink Gold,” but also for fishery exploratory work looking for latent resources and the expansion of existing fisheries. Many of the shrimp trawlers were built in St. Augustine soon to be known as “Shrimp Boat City.”
The Pink Gold Rush prompted St. Augustine to shift focus from catching shrimp to building shrimp trawlers (both shrimping and boatbuilding were a part of St. Augustine’s economy since early 20th century). The boat builders and their suppliers of propellers, engines, rigs, nets, generators, and other machinery saw sales grow to unprecedented levels.
The Key West docks quickly filled to capacity and shrimpers began to use San Carlos Island and Estero Island dock to unload their catches. In 1954, other pink shrimp grounds were discovered around Sanibel Island, and Mexico. The heyday of the Pink Gold Rush was during the 1950s and 1960s and although the shrimp industry faces competition from farmed shrimp today, the shrimp fleet of San Carlos Island still off-loads wild pink shrimp.
If you are ever in Key West and want to try out our delicious Pink Shrimp, you need to ask if the shrimp dish you are ordering is actually made with Key West Pink Shrimp. It's normally specified on the menu and if it isn't mentioned, it probably isn't.
There's one way we always verify that we are eating pink shrimp and it's because Key West Pink Shrimp typically have a small dot on either side of their shell in about the 3rd or 4th abdominal bend. It looks like someone took a Sharpie and made a dot on either side. When you see that, you know you are eating the real thing!
And it was today, Jan 12, 1952 that 200 Shrimping vessels were operating out of Key West. It was said that you could walk from one end of the marina to the other without ever touching water.
And that's what happened today in Key West History!
Today in Key West History is brought to you by 43 Keys Media. To learn more about our delicious past, and our glorious future in Key West, visit http://43keys.com.
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