Some would say Wright "Pappy" Gore Sr., the late founder and patriarch of Western Seafood Co. in Freeport, set the standard for setting standards. Pappy bought the company and property along the Gulf Coast in 1949 and began a lifelong mission to diversify and improve the Texas shrimp industry. The legacy continues today under the direction of his three sons, Wright Jr., Raymond and Gary.

"The tradition and spirit of innovation at Western Seafood began a long time ago with Pappy," Patrick Riley, general manager, said. "He was always thinking outside of the box in order to make our products and businesses more efficient."

Riley's father, Mike, went to work for Pappy and Western Seafood Co. in 1963. With the shrimp boat as his classroom and the Gulf as his playground, Patrick worked summers on the boat and docks beginning at age nine.

"If I wasn't in school, I was with my dad giving a boat the ‘fresh brush treatment,'" Riley said. "That is where I learned that there was always plenty to do and always plenty to improve upon. It was and is about doing more with less."

The rule "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" has never seemed to apply to Western Seafood Co. The 61-year-old company has taken the netting used for catching shrimp from tarred cotton to nylon to Spectra to new high density polyethelene, all with one goal in mind: efficiency. In the mid-1970s, during one of the first big oil crises, Pappy used his influence with operators to help refine and foster the widespread adoption of a quad-rig for shrimp boats that covered a larger catching area and relieved drag, which in turn reduced energy consumption while increasing production. In 2005, the company introduced the hydrodynamic trawl door to the industry, a device that reduced fuel consumption by more than 33 percent.  

In the quest for efficiency, Western Seafood has been continually recognized for being environmentally conscious. In 2004, Leroy Jones and Harry Davis Jr., both long time captains of Western Seafood, were awarded National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Hero Awards for the development of the Jones-Davis bycatch reduction device (BRD), a device used to reduce species other than shrimp caught. This BRD is now an industry standard and reduces bycatch by 58 percent. In 2008, Riley and Western Seafood Captain Manuel Calderon were awarded NOAA's Sustainable Fisheries Leadership Award in the Stewardship and Sustainability category for their work on fuel efficiency and BRD development.

"We did not purposefully go out of our way to be recognized; it just happened in our drive to be more efficient," Patrick said. "Pappy outhustled everybody and did everything faster in order to get a great product out when he first opened Western Seafood. For us, it is still about delivering a high-quality product and keeping it pristine all the way from the Gulf to the table."

Texas Shrimp: A Way of Life

When 81-year-old Edward "Lalo" Garcia Sr. stands on the dock of Palacios Bay every morning and inhales the salty, damp air of the Texas coast, a lifetime of achievement and hard work floods his memory.


Garcia began oystering when he was 13 and bought his first shrimping boat in 1955, which according to the Garcia family made him the first Hispanic in Texas to purchase his own shrimp boat. As Garcia's fleet grew over the next 15 years, so did his family. He and his wife, Antonia, had 13 children, most of whom are today in the Texas shrimp business. The Garcia family is the largest shrimping family in the nation, with 35 operating boats, 37 Gulf freezer trawlers and four shrimp houses.

"My father was a Depression baby with a third-grade education," said daughter Regina Garcia Peña, founder of Philly Seafood. "He sold newspapers for two cents a day during World War II, but he worked hard, and I am proud to say that he built his business because of his work ethic and belief in the product he was catching."

Peña attributes her own success to her family and the pride and encouragement passed down through the generations. Peña founded Philly Seafood in Palacios with her brother, Kenneth, in 2002 and began selling her signature brown headless Gulf shrimp to restaurants out of the back of her Suburban.

"I didn't know anything about selling shrimp," Peña recalled. "But I knew we had a great, quality roduct that buyers and restaurants would want."

Philly Seafood, named after Peña's late son, is now one of the largest wholesalers of Gulf shrimp,with more than $8 million in annual sales. Peña distributes to large retailers and restaurants all over the country.

"I know every business has a bottom line, but I would ask people to consider the whole package," Peña said. "Texas shrimp isn't just an all-natural product grown in pristine Gulf waters; it's a way of life."

For more than four decades, wild-caught Texas Gulf shrimp, line-caught red snapper, hand-caught flounder and Texas Gulf certified oysters have held their own as delicious items on the menu of San Antonio’s Sea Island Shrimp House restaurant.

“Since the beginning, we’ve learned to never deviate from what’s important,” said Barclay Anthony, son of founders Chrissy and Dan Anthony. “We’ve sampled shrimp from all over the world and have come to realize the Gulf brown has always stayed superior in quality.”

At Sea Island, the time-honored traditions of keeping it simple, serving the best seafood money can buy and providing great customer service have assured years of success for this hardworking restaurant family. Their loyal following is a testament to a longstanding commitment to Texas shrimp and to their community.

Sea Island has always believed the flavor of Gulf brown shrimp shouldn’t be hidden, which is why the restaurant has always used light hand breading to enhance the delectable flavor of the shrimp. Sea Island still hand makes its own sauces, breading, marinades, gumbo and sides. The restaurant also continues to hand fillet its fish and hand peel and de-vein its premium grade shrimp.

“We’ve always been a hands-on business. We know our shrimp boat captains and packers, and we’ve never taken our good fortune for granted,” said Chrissy. “We have great managers and employees; we are family.”

With six locations and approximately 450 employees, the Anthonys still stand by an inspiring and motivating business credo: You’re only as good as the last plate you served.