North Florida Hoppers

north Florida hoppers

An incredibly delicious shrimp, they have firm, crisp texture and bite with sweet ocean flavor. Easy peeling, great for boiling.

Florida Hoppers or Pink shrimp (Penaeus Duorarum) produced locally by the high salinity waters of St. Joe Bay may just be the perfect boiling shrimp. These easy peeling, firm shrimp are in the middle of the flavor spectrum and have one of the prettiest after cooked colors. Unlike most shrimp that have a distinct color, Hoppers are chameleons who match the color of the bottom they are sitting on top of.

From the almost translucent green hue they exhibit in St. Joe Bay, to the golden brown color caught off the shores of Cape San Blas, to the distinct almost cooked pink color of the hoppers caught off the Florida Keys, hence called Key West Pinks, these shrimp can always be identified by the ever present circular spot right in the middle of the shrimps side.

These succulent shrimp migrate off of the grass flats of the bay from middle of March to early May. When you gaze out over St. Joe Bay on a Spring evening and see the sunset procession of shrimp boats heading out for the night, rest assured the “hopper run” is under way.