US Jellyfish Land on Asian Dinner Tables
March 21, 2012
Jellyball fishing - catching jellyfish - is Georgia’s third largest commercial fishery - after shrimp and crabs.
Jellyfish are lovely creatures to behold underwater, as their gelatinous, tentacled bodies undulate in the currents. They are also a nuisance and a hazard. They can sting swimmers and clog fishing nets.
But, along the coast of the southern U.S. state of Georgia, jellyfish are a valuable export, which end up on dining tables across Asia.
Early on this chilly February morning, most everyone in the tiny coastal town of Darien is still asleep, but on the docks of Marco Seafood, along the Darien River, there’s plenty of activity. The shrimp trawler, Kim C. King, has just moored, and nearly 100 workers are ready to start processing last night’s catch of jellyfish, which the locals call jellyballs.
“Basically jellyballs have been a nuisance to fisherman for 100 years,” says Thornell King.
TK, as everyone calls him, owns three shrimp boats, but each winter, when shrimp season is over, he sets his nets for jellyballs. That’s just his part time job.
“Actually other than catching jellyballs, I’d much rather catch criminals," he says. "I’m a Georgia State Trooper.”
Cannonball jellyfish wash up on the beaches of St. Simons Island, Georgia.
TK has been jellyballing for 14 years. Jellyballs - they’re actually cannonball jellyfish - are found in the warm coastal waters of the southeastern United States. They’re seasonal - starting to appear in late winter and continue to be seen through the beginning of shrimping season in June and July
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25