September 30, 2026 — The Big Daddy shrimping vessel arrived at its San Carlos Island port Sept. 9, ready to unload 55,000 pounds of Gulf pink shrimp.
Capt. Michael Frost, 44, is deeply familiar with the event. A fourth-generation commercial fisherman, Frost has worked for his family’s shrimping operation — Trico Shrimp Co. — since childhood.
Trico closed after Hurricane Ian decimated the Gulf pink shrimp industry Sept. 28, 2022.
The industry remains centered on San Carlos Island in Lee County, where Matanzas Pass offers a port with convenient access to ever-reproducing seabed fields of “pink gold” southwest of the shoreline.
Like other independent contractors, Frost continues to harvest shrimp. He and his family members plan to rebuild their livelihood against increasing economic headwinds.
“It’s going to take a while to build back everything, but that’s our goal,” Frost said. “It’s just hard to walk away from something that you’ve been doing for so long.”
Meanwhile, Grant Erickson and his daughter Anna Erickson still run Erickson & Jensen Seafood, next door to the former Trico operation.
Since Trico closed, the more than 75-year-old Erickson & Jensen has been Lee County’s last remaining commercial shrimping operation.
Both the Ericksons and the Gala family, which co-owned Trico, run retail seafood markets near Fort Myers Beach.
The Ericksons, too, are determined to rebuild even though most of the San Carlos shrimping docks, their boats and other infrastructure were destroyed by Ian.