While rainfall is bringing
relief to much of the drought-stricken state of South Carolina, two counties
are dealing with worse conditions. The
South Carolina Drought Response Committee just raised the drought threat from
"minor" to "moderate."
But for those who count on water and fish for a way of life...this can
do some major damage.
Tonya Hudson- DeSalve
simply calls the shrimp season "awful." Low rainfall means a low turnout.
Because when the salinity
is so high--shrimp turn lethargic and don't eat or grow and eventually die.
It's a story she says
her crew is dealing with right now.
When we don't get much
rain we typically think of how it hurts land farmers--and the vegetation grows
from the ground, but those who make money in the water--need it just as much.
"It can most
definitely hurt the crabs or just the spawning of fish," Drew Davis said.
Drew Davis is a captain
for Out of the Blue Fishing Charters on Hilton Head and while summer is his
busy season...the weather now affects business then.
"When it comes time
for me and all these other charter boat captains to catch fish for people it's
hard to catch because you don't have as much and I know last year and the year
before the trout got hit hard. Not so
much with the drought but just the cold and that really affected how we fish
for them in the summer time and fall," he said.
Across the state line, Davis'
says his father sees change on the Ogeechee River in Richmond Hill.
"He's actually 22
miles from salt water and they're noticing trout that have never been up there
before. Red fish and flounder, too. The salt is being pushed up from the coast up
stream. They're also noticing depletion
in crappy and large mouth bass," Davis said.
