Chef's Round Table: Sourcing Seafood
Local chefs talk seafood, sourcing and the role our coastal location plays in our region’s culinary identity.
Through the Lens: Portraits of a Life by the Sea
Throughout much of this region’s history, fishermen familiar with the spindled creeks, tidal marshes and local varieties of jack, drum and whitefish culled the waterways, supporting families with the fish, shrimp and oysters they caught. These lifeways often spanned generations and imbued the region with a rugged individualism and a secret lore and history related to the occupation. In the past decades, many local seafood houses have shuttered and life as a commercial fisher has become difficult to sustain. Those still working in the industry complain of cheap imports and stifling regulations. Despite the feeling of the odds stacked against them, many still hold onto this way of life making their living off coastal resources.
Eddie Chesser has been catching and selling shrimp since he and his father invested in a small boat and a set of hand-pulled nets after returning from the service in the summer of 1969. When the shrimp aren’t running, he keeps crab pots and lines for catfish. His wife and business partner Debbie regales visitors with tales of daily deliveries across the First Coast, supplying regional restaurants, fish camps and other customers with the wild-caught shrimp that Eddie often pulls in the evening before. They can be found at the Fernandina Farmers’ Market on Saturdays.
Frank Gassmann can’t remember the first time he ever threw a cast net. He has a vague memory of trying to negotiate one onto his bicycle while riding down Vilano Beach sometime in the early 1960s. Although he has fished almost everything that swims off the coast, he’s always had a penchant for pulling in mullet with a hand-thrown net. Over the years Frank has supplied his neighbors with fresh caught mullet, and in return, he would receive a heaping stock of mullet stew handed across the fence. While many newer fishermen approach mullet by boat, Frank has always loved working off the beach, using hand-mended nets to bring in the day’s fare.
Want to view Sean Kelly Conway's work in documenting the people and places of Northeast Florida? Visit him online at seankellyconway.com
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