Record diesel prices push Beaufort Co. shrimpers to the brink

ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (WTOC) - Shrimpers in Beaufort County are asking local and state leaders for emergency relief at the fuel pump as record-breaking diesel prices threaten their livelihoods and working waterfronts across the Lowcountry.

According to AAA, the statewide average for a gallon of diesel fuel reached a record high of $6.16 over the weekend before settling slightly above $6.12.

For commercial shrimpers who rely on tens of thousands of gallons to power multi-week voyages, the surge has turned an already precarious industry into a high-stakes gamble.

Captain Skip Toomer, a fourth-generation commercial shrimper and owner of Skip Toomer Inc. and Coastline Shrimp, departed Sunday from a dock on St. Helena Island with his crew and three shrimp boats for a two-week run.

“We knew it was going to be high, but it’s unsustainably high,” Toomer said. “It’s taking what little profit we had away from us.”

Toomer’s three trawlers each hold more than 10,000 gallons of fuel. His operation typically runs about one and a half trips per month, with each outing lasting between 14 and 17 days.

With fuel bills reaching tens of thousands of dollars per voyage, breaking even requires massive hauls.

“If we don’t make it worth it, nobody makes any money,” Toomer said. “If we don’t make any money and we can’t do it, then I have four guys out of a job.”

The fuel surge is compounding long-standing economic headwinds for coastal fishermen, including low dockside wholesale prices and heavy competition from cheaper imported shrimp.

Across the Southeast, some commercial captains have chosen to keep their trawlers tied to the dock rather than risk devastating financial losses at sea.

“It’s just too much overhead to go out there and gamble with right now,” Toomer explained. “We have to be really picky and choosy about what we do, where we go, and how far we go.”

Toomer and his family are preparing to send a formal letter to municipal, county, and state officials pleading for targeted fuel relief, and they are urging fellow commercial fishermen across the region to do the same.

“I don’t know what to think about it or what to hope for,” Toomer said. “We are just keeping one foot in front of the other and hope we come out at the end of the trip, or the end of the month, or hopefully by the end of the year... I don’t know what that looks like or what we can do, but our working waterfronts are really hurting.”

Over the past week, several South Carolina lawmakers urged Governor Henry McMaster to temporarily suspend the state’s gas and diesel tax, which funds road and bridge maintenance.

Governor McMaster has rejected those calls, leaving commercial fleets searching for alternative solutions as fuel expenses remain near historic highs.