Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The sky is falling. Welcome back to Alabama's morning news.
My name's John mountsin filling in for JT. One more day.
And if you've been listening to the news reports all
over the weekend, all over the country, Donald Trump's tariffs,
they're going to destroy America will never be able to recover.
Every single business in America is just so mad at him.
Except well, except they're not, at least not right here
(00:20):
in Alabama. Last week I spoke with Mark Jeger, the
CEO of the Redland Cotton Company in Moulton, who explained
why the tariffs would actually help him. Now we're talking
with another Alabama business that agrees these tariffs will be
good for their business. Joining me now from Sea Harvest
Fresh Shrimp and Biolo Battery, Alabama is Tammy Hall. Tammy,
thank you for joining me, Thank you for having us.
Your business has been hurt and years gone by by
(00:43):
the unfair practices of people who import shrimp from overseas.
Isn't that right?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
That's correct?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
So how will something like this, this tariff, which is
aimed to try and get people to buy American products,
how will this help you?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
We're hoping that this is We're going to help to
drive up our price and have people look to buy
golf shrimp more often than what they would a foreign shrimp.
Most of the restaurants now are buying foreign shrimp because
they are so cheap and.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
It's affordable, but the quality is not great, correct, And.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I advise anybody if you are eating or purchasing and
imported shrimp, go on Google and google how they catch
them and find out all the facts for yourself, because
it will make you not want to ever eat another
one again, I promise.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And that's the thing we see time and time again.
People will critics will say, well, these foreign products are
just so much cheaper, we're gonna have to pay more
for these American products. And they're right, we will have
to pay more for American products. But the point is
the quality is so much better. And that's the case
with your product too.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
As a matter of fact, once someone eats one of
our shrimp, they can't believe it. And we have people
travel from all over to come down and purchase our shrimp.
We do sell right off the boat, so my husband
pulls the boat up to the dock and we sell
right there to the general public, and people apps absolutely
love it.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Tammy, describe an Alabama shrimp? What do your shrimp look like?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Mostly our shrimp we catch white shrimp or brown shrimp.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
How big are the ones that you usually bring in?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The biggest that we catch are you twelve? Which means
that is twelve and under in a pound, and then
they go down, you know to probably about our smallest
shrimp is about a forty fifty and that's about forty
to fifty shrimp and a pound.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
So that might be like the salad shrimp you see
versus the big ones you see in like a like
a shrimp cocktail. Yes, with all of what's happening, I'm
sure your business is you might have to eat some
higher prices on some things. They're saying that some things
might cost a little bit more, But do you think
that it'll come out in the wash in terms of
you'll pay more. You might have to pay a little
bit more for I don't know shirts or nuts or so.
(02:45):
I don't know what you guys buy, but you might
have to pay more there, but it'll come out in
the wash because you will be bringing you more money
from people buying from you guys.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yes, sir, we're hoping so. So. What the problem is is,
over the years, everything has went except for shrint prices.
I have some share slips, which is basically like an
invoice that were my grandfather's. The shrimp price back in
the late sixties and some go back as far as
(03:15):
the fifties was not much different than it is today.
And it's a lot of it is due to the imports.
The imports are coming in and just flooding the market,
and they're so cheap that they're keeping our price down.
The problem that it's caused over the years of nobody
doing anything about it is a lot of your local
(03:36):
shrimpermen have had to get out of the business. They
can't afford it. When I was a child, there were
hundreds of boats in the Bayou that shrimped. Now I
can count on two hands how many fresh ice boats
there are left in the Byu. And it's all due
because people can't afford to make it. You know, fuel,
(03:59):
We have to pay for fuel, We have to pay
for boat maintenance. We have all these licenses. We feel
like we are just licensed to death in every area.
Our boat and many boats in the Bayou as well,
not just us, you know, we need to haul up.
We got repairs that need to be done, but they
can't afford to We can't afford to do it because
(04:19):
we're just not making enough, you know that we're not
getting enough money for our product to overcome all our expense.
And this has been going on, like I said, for years.
And the only thing that has kept my husband and
I in the business is the fact that we in
twenty twenty during COVID, the shops quit buying our shrimp
(04:41):
because the restaurants wasn't buying anything at that time. And
I told my husband, I was like, well, people have
to eat, you know. So what we did we purchased
some property and started selling right off the boat to
the public. If it had not been for that, we
would probably not still be in the business. HU spend
a seafood worker his whole life and we're in our fifties.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And you said that we have people who you have
people who drive down because we're up here in Huntsville
and Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden. People would drive all the way
down there to the coast, probably not just for the shrimp,
but while you're there, you pick up some shrimp, you
bring it back north. A lot of people do that, yes, sir,
a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
We have customers that come from Tennessee, Atlanta and they
make just a shrimp trip. They will come down, rent
a room, stay in the room, get up the next morning,
come pick their shrimp up and head home.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
And it's called Sea Harvest Fresh Shrimp. And it's a
family business. It's you said, it's been your family for
how long it sounds like sixty years.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah. So my grandfather was a shrimper. My father was,
and my husband is as well, and my son does
it sometimes. My son he has another job as well,
but he does the shrimp and two on the side.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Well, we very much want to keep a business like
yours in business and serving the people of Alabama with
with a quality product, even if it means we have
to pay for what what it's what it costs, because
it's worth it. I'd like to thank you so much,
Tammy for joining us, and I hope you, I hope
you have nothing but success and this, uh, the outcome
of this thing will will help you guys beyond measure.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Thank you. We appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Tammy Hall from Biola Battery. This is Alabama's morning News.
My name is John Mounts in for JT traffic and
weather in three minutes.
The sky is falling. Welcome back to Alabama's morning news.
My name's John mountsin filling in for JT. One more day.
And if you've been listening to the news reports all
over the weekend, all over the country, Donald Trump's tariffs,
they're going to destroy America will never be able to recover.
Every single business in America is just so mad at him.
Except well, except they're not, at least not right here
(00:20):
in Alabama. Last week I spoke with Mark Jeger, the
CEO of the Redland Cotton Company in Moulton, who explained
why the tariffs would actually help him. Now we're talking
with another Alabama business that agrees these tariffs will be
good for their business. Joining me now from Sea Harvest
Fresh Shrimp and Biolo Battery, Alabama is Tammy Hall. Tammy,
thank you for joining me, Thank you for having us.
Your business has been hurt and years gone by by
(00:43):
the unfair practices of people who import shrimp from overseas.
Isn't that right?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
That's correct?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
So how will something like this, this tariff, which is
aimed to try and get people to buy American products,
how will this help you?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
We're hoping that this is We're going to help to
drive up our price and have people look to buy
golf shrimp more often than what they would a foreign shrimp.
Most of the restaurants now are buying foreign shrimp because
they are so cheap and.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
It's affordable, but the quality is not great, correct, And.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I advise anybody if you are eating or purchasing and
imported shrimp, go on Google and google how they catch
them and find out all the facts for yourself, because
it will make you not want to ever eat another
one again, I promise.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And that's the thing we see time and time again.
People will critics will say, well, these foreign products are
just so much cheaper, we're gonna have to pay more
for these American products. And they're right, we will have
to pay more for American products. But the point is
the quality is so much better. And that's the case
with your product too.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
As a matter of fact, once someone eats one of
our shrimp, they can't believe it. And we have people
travel from all over to come down and purchase our shrimp.
We do sell right off the boat, so my husband
pulls the boat up to the dock and we sell
right there to the general public, and people apps absolutely
love it.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Tammy, describe an Alabama shrimp? What do your shrimp look like?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Mostly our shrimp we catch white shrimp or brown shrimp.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
How big are the ones that you usually bring in?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The biggest that we catch are you twelve? Which means
that is twelve and under in a pound, and then
they go down, you know to probably about our smallest
shrimp is about a forty fifty and that's about forty
to fifty shrimp and a pound.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
So that might be like the salad shrimp you see
versus the big ones you see in like a like
a shrimp cocktail. Yes, with all of what's happening, I'm
sure your business is you might have to eat some
higher prices on some things. They're saying that some things
might cost a little bit more, But do you think
that it'll come out in the wash in terms of
you'll pay more. You might have to pay a little
bit more for I don't know shirts or nuts or so.
(02:45):
I don't know what you guys buy, but you might
have to pay more there, but it'll come out in
the wash because you will be bringing you more money
from people buying from you guys.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yes, sir, we're hoping so. So. What the problem is is,
over the years, everything has went except for shrint prices.
I have some share slips, which is basically like an
invoice that were my grandfather's. The shrimp price back in
the late sixties and some go back as far as
(03:15):
the fifties was not much different than it is today.
And it's a lot of it is due to the imports.
The imports are coming in and just flooding the market,
and they're so cheap that they're keeping our price down.
The problem that it's caused over the years of nobody
doing anything about it is a lot of your local
(03:36):
shrimpermen have had to get out of the business. They
can't afford it. When I was a child, there were
hundreds of boats in the Bayou that shrimped. Now I
can count on two hands how many fresh ice boats
there are left in the Byu. And it's all due
because people can't afford to make it. You know, fuel,
(03:59):
We have to pay for fuel, We have to pay
for boat maintenance. We have all these licenses. We feel
like we are just licensed to death in every area.
Our boat and many boats in the Bayou as well,
not just us, you know, we need to haul up.
We got repairs that need to be done, but they
can't afford to We can't afford to do it because
(04:19):
we're just not making enough, you know that we're not
getting enough money for our product to overcome all our expense.
And this has been going on, like I said, for years.
And the only thing that has kept my husband and
I in the business is the fact that we in
twenty twenty during COVID, the shops quit buying our shrimp
(04:41):
because the restaurants wasn't buying anything at that time. And
I told my husband, I was like, well, people have
to eat, you know. So what we did we purchased
some property and started selling right off the boat to
the public. If it had not been for that, we
would probably not still be in the business. HU spend
a seafood worker his whole life and we're in our fifties.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And you said that we have people who you have
people who drive down because we're up here in Huntsville
and Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden. People would drive all the way
down there to the coast, probably not just for the shrimp,
but while you're there, you pick up some shrimp, you
bring it back north. A lot of people do that, yes, sir,
a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
We have customers that come from Tennessee, Atlanta and they
make just a shrimp trip. They will come down, rent
a room, stay in the room, get up the next morning,
come pick their shrimp up and head home.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
And it's called Sea Harvest Fresh Shrimp. And it's a
family business. It's you said, it's been your family for
how long it sounds like sixty years.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah. So my grandfather was a shrimper. My father was,
and my husband is as well, and my son does
it sometimes. My son he has another job as well,
but he does the shrimp and two on the side.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Well, we very much want to keep a business like
yours in business and serving the people of Alabama with
with a quality product, even if it means we have
to pay for what what it's what it costs, because
it's worth it. I'd like to thank you so much,
Tammy for joining us, and I hope you, I hope
you have nothing but success and this, uh, the outcome
of this thing will will help you guys beyond measure.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Thank you. We appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Tammy Hall from Biola Battery. This is Alabama's morning News.
My name is John Mounts in for JT traffic and
weather in three minutes.
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