1 If you live in the area of1 If you live near the Gulf of Mexico in places like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida, you're on the Southern Gulf Coast. People call this area the Fishing Capital of the United States because many fishermen go out in their boats to catch fish, shrimp, crab, and other seafood.
2 Shrimp and fish boats called trawlers go out into the Gulf of Mexico to catch seafood. These boats are big, about 70 feet long or more. They have refrigerators to keep the seafood fresh, so they can stay out for a long time, sometimes up to two weeks.
3 Trawlers have different rooms like a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and a place where they steer the boat. They use special equipment to find where the fish and shrimp are, so they don't waste time.
4 The people who work on trawlers are called the crew. There's the captain who drives the boat, deck hands who help with the nets, headers who clean the seafood, and a cook who makes sure everyone is fed and the boat is clean. Most of the time, the crew is all men.
5 Fishing is super important for the Southern Gulf Coast's economy. It gives jobs to lots of people, over 1.6 million in the whole United States. On the Gulf Coast alone, it brings in more than 22.6 billion dollars!