Let's meet Biram Chapman of St. Catherines Island Seafood, the small Georgia business turning shoppers into “shrimp snobs.” We follow his week from coastal boats to Middle Georgia coolers to the Grant Park Farmers Market and hear why wild-caught Georgia shrimp tastes different. You learn the family history that ties Biram to St. Catherines Island and how buying local supports shrimpers in a tough import-driven market.

 

Take a trip to Atlanta’s Grant Park Farmers Market to find Biram Chapman, owner of St. Catherines Island Seafood. His tent is simple. His pitch is simpler. Wild-caught Georgia shrimp, harvested on Thursday, iced on Friday, and in your skillet by the weekend. Chapman calls the operation a side hustle, but the work is careful and quick, built on relationships with day-boat shrimpers along the coast and a farmers’ co-op that helps move product to markets across the state. Freshness is the first difference you taste.

Chapman’s connection to the coast started in his family. A cousin captains a 64-foot shrimp boat that works waters off St. Catherines Island, where relatives once served as caretakers. Out come the photos and a book about the island’s history. You hear stories of a wrecked World War II plane that became a childhood jungle gym, of elders who kept the “big house,” and of a place that has been home to people for thousands of years. The island sits outside public reach, but for Chapman it remains a quiet thread that ties his seafood business to a specific marsh, creek, and tide.

The episode also sits with the hard parts. Diesel is expensive, imported shrimp is cheap, and boats leave the water. Chapman does what he can, driving coolers to Macon, Lake Oconee, and even the north Georgia mountains, where customers discover that local shrimp is different. The message is consistent. Know who caught it. Buy it fresh. Keep Georgia shrimpers working. The taste tells the rest.

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A Fork in the Road airs Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 6:30 a.m. on GPB-TV. Check your local listings for other replays throughout the week and watch all episodes anytime at GPB.org/ForkintheRoad.  Please download and subscribe to the Fork in the Road podcast at GPB.org/ForkintheRoadpodcast or on your favorite podcast platform.