A Livelihood Supported by the Sea

Beaufort’s rich heritage and traditions trace back hundreds of years. At the very heart of those traditions is a lifestyle and livelihood that centers around the waterways surrounding the Sea Islands, Beaufort and Port Royal.

If you want to experience that lifestyle and livelihood, a visit to Sea Eagle Market at Village Creek on St Helena, Island, is a must-do. Watching the trawlers unloading freshly caught shrimp, as the aptly called “shrimp ladies” skillfully dehead and peel the succulent catch is a must-see. Quickly iced, the day’s catch is delivered daily by the market to Beaufort, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and regionally through partnership with Sysco Food. But, not before a good portion goes to Sea Eagle’s own Village Creek Market and their in-town restaurant and market –Sea Eagle Market and Good Eats.

The freshness is what entices habitual shoppers Wilma and Ed Smith, summer visitors and Fripp homeowners for more than twenty-eight years, to the Village Creek market. The market “is a must visit for us every summer for fresh, never frozen fish—it’s the only place we can find the native blue crab.”

Second generation commercial fisherman and owner Craig Reaves, and his wife Jana, are carrying on a tradition that has been a part of the Lowcountry way of life since the earliest known inhabitants cultivated oysters, their shells and other catch from the sea, as both a food resource and as a building material and tool. A tradition that today, in this world of inexpensive and frozen imports, heightened regulations and commercial overfishing, is becoming less and less prevalent. In the business for more than twenty years, the Reaves are passionate about what they do and about keeping it relevant not only for their children but for generations to come.

A way of life in the Lowcountry that we hope is here to stay.