A decades-long San Carlos Island shrimping business struggles with rising diesel costs

SAN CARLOS ISLAND, Fla. (WINK) —A family-run shrimping operation is worried rising diesel costs could force them to shut down after more than 70 years in the business.

Since 1950, Erickson and Jensen Seafood have been fishing and selling in bulk what they call "pink gold" — wild-caught, flash-frozen shrimp.

"These are the best shrimp in the world," said Grant Erickson, owner of Erickson and Jensen Seafood.

The business processes shrimp that come straight off local boats, palletizes them, weighs them and ships them throughout the country on semi trucks.

It's been passed down from generation to generation. Anna Erickson, Grant's daughter, said she does whatever it takes to keep things running.

"I'm unloading boats, I'm helping in the retail market, I'm picking up supplies, It's never-ending," said Anna, the operations manager at the seafood company. "There's hats on hats and I'm a yes person, so whatever it takes, we get it done."

But getting those shrimp isn't easy.

Crews spend up to 30 days in the Gulf on boats that burn gallons of diesel fuel to catch and bring back their haul. Once the shrimp are back on land, trucks need even more fuel to deliver them to restaurants and grocery stores.

The Ericksons said they're struggling with the current cost of diesel fuel.

"That's our number one expense, is diesel fuel," Grant said. "It's over $5 a gallon. It's just, you know, we have a hard time working with that price right now."

Shelton Weeks, Lucas Professor of Real Estate at Florida Gulf Coast University, said businesses and drivers could see some relief soon.

"We could see relief in the fairly short term," said Weeks. "However, that's always going to depend on what happens in the Middle East."

The Ericksons are doing everything they can to stay in business, but Anna said it's getting harder.

"It's one thing after the next," Anna said. "We're finally getting these shrimp prices up and I'm so grateful for that. Then we're hit with these diesel bills that, I mean, they're rising. We're sweating, we're stressing, but it's getting to the point where, if it keeps going up, we're going to be tying boats up and that'd be a real tragedy."