SAN CARLOS ISLAND, Fla. — Erickson & Jensen Seafood now have five of their shrimp boats back in the water, but their operations are far from normal since Hurricane Ian.

“We had a nice ongoing business and we were very secure,” Grant Erickson said referring to his 75-year-old business. “Been doing this for a long, long time. And then all of a sudden in a 12-hour period, the storm just took us completely out of what we were doing.”

Before Hurricane Ian, Erickson and Jensen had 11 ships bringing in tons of shrimp.

“We are really struggling,” he said.

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From rebuilding the docks and their buildings, it’s been difficult to find the money.

“I’m sure we’re approaching well over $500,000,” Erickson said.

In total, he said it will take millions of dollars. Funds that he does not have.

Alexia Tsiropoulos: “As you go to sleep at night, what runs through your mind when it comes to your business?”

Erickson: “ I mean, how are we going to get this back together?”

There’s another problem, the cheap price of shrimp.

He said his company can barely break even with what little shrimp they can sell.

It’s a great time to be a customer, not a shrimper.

Erickson said Trico Shrimp Company had to shut down for now.

“Dealing with total mass destruction…they haven’t been able to recoup,” he said.

And without much dockage, crews can’t unload the coveted pink gold shrimp, so they lose out on business and thousands of dollars.

This puts the entire Southwest Florida shrimping industry in jeopardy.

“Well, this land probably turns into condos…who knows what,” he said, referring to what would happen to his property if he had to sell.

But what always gives him faith is the amount of shrimp in our waters.

“Makes it simple,” he said. “We only have one kind and it’s the best kind!”

The future is waiting for them in the Gulf. They just need a little help from you first.

“I invite people to come and help us. Purchase some of these lots of shrimp. We’ve got lots of them,” Erickson said.

He said to visit their store when you can, it could save their business.