Allyson & Jeff Toomer
A Lifelong Legacy; a Seaworthy Life
May 2025 Issue
by Lesley Kyle
Photography (above) by Cassidy Dunn Photography
There’s a certain feeling one gets when spotting a shrimping trawler offshore with its ample, outstretched arms beckoning nature to fill its bows. I don’t know if it’s the simplicity an ancient craft, or the magic of how nature provides that connects us so deeply to the sea and its harvest. But one thing is for sure, the bounty makes us all grateful for those fisherman who go out and brave the sea to get it.
With a legacy of well over 100 years fishing and trawling Lowcountry waters, the Toomer Family roots run wide throughout the Lowcountry and deep in that big blue Atlantic.
Jeff Toomer’s family got to Hilton Head in the early 1900s. He is a fourth-generation shrimper. His late father, Frank G. Toomer, Jr., shrimped in seven different boats over the years, taking his boys with him once they were old enough to help. It’s only natural that Jeff and his two brothers all still shrimp today.
When a young Allyson Reese and her family moved to Hilton Head in 1984, her father took them to Hudson’s Seafood Restaurant. That meal was Allyson’s first introduction to shrimping. “I’m from the country,” mused Allyson. “I didn’t even know what a shrimp boat was!” Later that Fall, she met Jeff at Hilton Head High School, where he was a junior, and she, a freshman. Years later, they married on the waterfront at Colleton Point Landing in Rose Hill Plantation in Bluffton.
Jeff worked for his father until 1989 when he bought his first shrimp boat, “Ceryle”, from his dad and started his own shrimping business. “Ceryle” ran until 1994 when Jeff and Allyson’s daughter, Reilly Morgan, was born, which coincidentally, also brought a new boat, “Miss Shirley”. In 1998, their son, Jeffrey Logan, was born, and lo and behold yet another boat, which they named the Reilly Morgan, after their little girl. “Every year we had a child, it seemed like we got a new boat,” Allyson laughed. Their son, who goes by Logan, is the now a fifth-generation shrimper and captain of the Reilly Morgan. Jeff captains the Jeffrey Logan.
Allyson manages the company’s books and all business matters that happen on land. “The boat life is not for me,” Allyson stated. Jeff and Logan go out to sea locally beginning in mid-April when the roe shrimp arrive and lay eggs for the autumn catch. They then trawl and drag from Florida to Charleston until around July 1, depending on the weather. Brown shrimp arrive around June 1, and white shrimp, which are the adult spring baby roe, are ready for harvest beginning in mid-August. White shrimp wrap up the season, which ends in January or when the weather becomes too cold.
Shrimping the sea takes grit; it is a grueling, physical job but it has an amazing view. However, the days are long, even with boats equipped with every modern convenience—full kitchen, heat and air, satellite TV, Wi-Fi, 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. Anchors are up before daylight, and try nets are pulled every 20 to 30 minutes to test the waters for where the shrimpers are to start the first drag. The try nets are good indicators of what the large nets will catch in that particular area. When shrimping local waters, the boats stay out seven to ten days before returning home. Each drag lasts three to five hours, resulting in three to four drags a day—that’s no less than 12 to 15-hour days.
Nearly 30 shrimp boats used to cruise the waters around Hilton Head and Bluffton. Now, it’s far less. Regulations, expensive boat repairs, and a shortage of legacy shrimpers, like the Toomers, have thinned the industry considerably. And the life of a shrimper is not without its challenges, beginning with cheap, imported product. Farm-raised shrimp from countries such as Ecuador and Thailand are readily found in the marketplace at much lower prices. But rest assured, you get what you pay for.
“The public needs to know they have a choice when it comes to seafood,” said Allyson. “Foreign, farm-raised shrimp are not safe to eat. They are fed antibiotics and pumped with numerous preservatives often in nasty, unsanitary conditions. You can always spot a farm-raised shrimp: Their color and size are perfect and uniform.”
Public perception based on misinformation is another obstacle. “We want to educate the public,” Jeff said. “We do everything we can to protect the wildlife and make a living.” The Toomers are so passionate about the shrimping lifestyle, they created the Seaworthy Lifestyle brand. “We don’t catch turtles,” said Jeff. “Trawlers get a bad rap. We can’t trawl across the bottom—only on flat, sandy surfaces, and those areas are regulated.”
The Toomer family shrimping dynasty is a labor of love and a love of legacy. “It’s more than a hobby or a job, and we take it very personally,” said Allyson. “Salt water is in our veins.”
Fun Facts:
Hometowns: Jeff is originally
from Bluffton; Allyson is from Anderson, SC.
Reilly Morgan, their daughter: Reilly is a nurse at Coastal Carolina - Novant Health and married to a Bluffton Police officer. They have three children.
Reilly Morgan, the trawler: Logan captain’s the Reilly Morgan, which has a capacity of 35,000 pounds of shrimp.
Jeffrey Logan, their son: Logan is 26 years old. He learned to weld and worked several places before his father offered him a portion on one of the boats. Logan actually started helping his dad at age 9. After working the decks for five years, Logan is now captain of the Reilly Morgan. His mother told us: “Now that he’s been captain for two years, I can hear it in his voice and in his words, the salt water has taken over his veins. I believe he has found his calling and loves it.”
Jeffrey Logan, the trawler: Purchased in 2019, the Jeffrey Logan has a capacity of 70,000 pounds of shrimp. Last year, Captain Jeff filled it to capacity seven times.
Consumed Locally: The majority of shrimp from these two trawlers are considered restaurant-direct purchases directly from the boats. The Shrimp are cleaned, headed, and packaged on the boat and delivered directly to the following local restaurants: Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks, Nectar Farm Kitchen, Skull Creek Boathouse, Dockside, Poseidon, Wise Guys, Black Marlin, and Frankie Bones.
A Bit of Nostalgia: The original SV Toomer Seafood sign hangs inside The Crazy Crab on Wm. Hilton Parkway.
Connect: The Toomer’s would love for more restaurants to sell local shrimp. Be sure to log on to Seaworthylifestyle.com to learn more about local shrimping and all it entails.
The Toomer Family impact providing the freshest seafood for more than 100 years:
• Jeff’s grandfather, Frank Toomer, Sr., owned Hilton Head Seafood on Squire Pope Road, which is where Bluewater Resort and Marina is now located.
• Jeff’s great-grandfather, Simpson Toomer, Sr., who got to HHI in the late 1800s, started and owned S.V. Toomer Seafood Company (1902), which later became Boiler’s Seafood.
• Boiler’s Seafood was passed down to William “Billy” Toomer, Jeff’s great-uncle. It was located where The Crazy Crab Restaurant is on Hilton Head’s North End.
• Simpson “Chief” Toomer, another one of Jeff’s great-uncles, owned an oyster house at Buckingham Landing.
• These seafood houses operated between 1902 and early 1980s.