Giant shrimp pulled from St. Johns River

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As shrimpers with the Trout River Fish Company were getting shrimp out of the St. Johns River Thursday they stumbled upon something that was much bigger than the rest.

Bruce Nipper, owner of the company, has seen a lot of shrimp in his life, but the 12 inch tiger shrimp they pulled out of the river was something he hasn't seen in six decades of operation.

"When you throw him on (the scale), you'll see that shrimp stands out. He's huge, he's huge. A half a pound shrimp is a huge shrimp," Nipper said.

Customers were also shocked to see such a large shrimp, many of whom took pictures of the shrimp and took turns guessing how much it weighed.

"When I saw it, I thought it was like a lobster tail or something, and then my dad pointed out that it was a shrimp," customer Ryan Burns said.

Nipper said the tiger shrimp is an invasive species that feeds on smaller shrimp which is a concern for people who live on the regular shrimp that normally live in the river.

"They come out of South Carolina. They were farm raised from there, and when Hurricane Hugo hit, a lot of them were release into the wild," Nipper said.

But Nipper wasn't too worried and said he had big plans for the shrimp come Saturday night.

"Saturday night when we close, we're going to eat it. We're going to see what it taste like ourselves," Nipper said.