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[guitar melody 
leads upbeat folk tune]

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♪

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(Bland Simpson) 
The Lockwood Folly River

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is one of the shortest 
and loveliest

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of North Carolina's 
coastal streams.

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Its black waters run down

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through swampy 
Brunswick County,

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below Supply, 
past Varnamtown,

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out between Holden Beach 
and Oak Island,

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through Lockwood Folly Inlet 
to the sea.

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♪

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The name Lockwood Folly

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has been a part 
of our cartography

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since John Ogilby's map 
of 1671,

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where it was given 
as "Look Wood" Folly.

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Lockwood Folly 
may be the first

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and thus oldest 
named river in our state.

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No one knows for sure anymore 
just who Lockwood was

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or what was the precise nature 
of his folly,

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though one oft-repeated legend

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holds that Lockwood 
built himself

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a nice big ship upriver, 
launched her,

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and headed for the open ocean

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only to find that she 
couldn't cross the bar.

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She was too big 
to get out of the inlet,

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so there she foundered 
and went to pieces.

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[geese honking]

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Nowadays, the story

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is more about 
a coming together.

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Back in 2006, a coalition

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of the very concerned 
about the river and its future

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formed around the shared goal 
of cleaning up the river

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at a time when over half of it

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was closed to shellfishing.

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This group included 
the Brunswick County-appointed

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Lockwood Folly Roundtable, 
municipal governments,

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and the North Carolina 
Coastal Federation.

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And to improve 
the river's health,

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they suggested 
a variety of tools:

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low-impact development,

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better management 
of storm-water runoff,

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rain gardens, 
and oyster reef restoration,

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over 15,000 bushels 
of shells.

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Ten years after its start, 
there is considerable momentum

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for this great conservation 
effort going forward.

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The lower portion of the river 
is open to shellfishing,

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and everyone here hopes 
that someday sooner than later

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to reopen the rest of it,

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and that is no folly.

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This is Varnamtown

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on the west bank 
of the Lockwood Folly River.

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It got its name 
from a bunch of schoolchildren

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makin' up a song about it 
and singin' of it that way.

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Well, the Varnams 
of Varnamtown

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have been building boats 
hereabouts

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for a century and more,

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though the old craft 
of the 1920s and '30s

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were much smaller 
than the shrimpers of today,

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which might range 
to 90 feet or so.

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In those old days,

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the boats 
were only 40 feet long,

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12 feet wide, 
3 feet deep, round-hulled,

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and crafted 
with nothing but hand tools.

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[bright acoustic 
guitar arrangement]

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They used longleaf heart pine 
for framing and decking

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and cypress for the hulls.

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Though there is 
no official, accurate count,

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these Brunswick builders 
completed and launched

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hundreds of workboats 
over the past century.

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Some of the builders 
were John Varnam,

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Clyde Varnam, 
Weston Varnam,

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Billy Varnam, 
Clyde and Weston's nephew,

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and master rigger 
Norman Bellamy.

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And like 
their fellow boatbuilders

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up Harkers Island way 
in Down East Carteret County,

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the Brunswick County craftsmen 
legendarily used no plans.

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Billy Varnam, whose enterprise 
was named B-Var,

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once said, 
"When a Varnam builds a boat,

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"all he needs to know

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"is the length, 
width, and depth

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that the customer 
wants his boat to be."

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(mixed chorus) 
♪ Ohh ♪

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♪ Shrimp boats 
is a-comin' ♪

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♪ Their sails are in sight ♪

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♪ Shrimp boats is a-comin', 
there's dancin' tonight ♪

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♪ Why don't you hurry, 
hurry, hurry home ♪

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♪ Why don't you hurry, 
hurry, hurry home ♪

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(Simpson) 
Native Americans, 
who inhabited our coast

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for 10,000 years or more 
before the Spanish and English

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got here in the 1500s, 
used to dip shrimp

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out of coastal waters 
with hand nets.

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Around here, 
shrimp were called bugs,

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and those who went after them,

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whom today 
we would call shrimpers,

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were known as bug hunters.

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Brunswick County's 
first-reported commercial catch

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of these delicious bugs 
was back in 1897.

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Now, that year,

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fishermen gathered 
400,000 clams,

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worth over $22,000.

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They caught 
333,000 pounds of mullet,

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worth almost $10,000,

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but they netted 
just 2,500 pounds of shrimp,

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worth $125, 
a nickel a pound.

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[woman singing]

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Just a few years later, 
it was a different story.

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By the end of World War I, 
Brunswick County's fleet

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landed 370,000 pounds 
of shrimp.

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By the end of World War II,

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the catch 
was almost 3 million pounds.

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Jo Stafford's 1951 song,

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"shrimp boats a-comin', 
there's dancin' tonight,"

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really meant something here.

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And it continues to mean a lot 
up and down our coast.

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In 2004, 
North Carolina fishermen

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brought in 4.9 million pounds 
of shrimp,

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worth $9 million, 
and in 2013,

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again nearly 
4.9 million pounds,

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worth $12.9 million.

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We're here at one 
of North Carolina's

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most historic fish houses, 
Garland's Fresh Seafood,

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right on 
the Lockwood Folly River

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east of downtown Varnamtown,

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an establishment-- 
an institution

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that just celebrated 
its 61st anniversary.

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[guitar leads folk tune]

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Garland's son Nicky Varnam 
and his wife Jackie

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are running 
the fish house now

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and have been since 1984.

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Shrimp boats pull 
into the docks at Garland's

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from spring to late fall,

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having worked waters 
south of Lockwood Folly Inlet

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and well to the north,

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including the rich fishing 
and shellfishing grounds

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of Pamlico Sound, 
the inland sea,

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and the largest part

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of North Carolina's 
great estuary,

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the Albemarle lagoon.

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Jackie Varnam also serves 
as current president

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of Brunswick Catch,

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one of four fishermen's catch 
groups in our state,

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comprising 
commercial fishermen,

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seafood dealers, 
and restaurateurs

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under the umbrella 
of North Carolina Catch.

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These nonprofits 
are frontline components

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of the contemporary effort

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to put more fresh, wild-caught 
North Carolina seafood

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onto breakfast, lunch, 
and dinner plates

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in the homes and restaurants 
of our state.

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Whether it's Garland's 
or Captain Pete's Seafood

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under the Holden Beach Bridge

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or Holden Beach Seafood 
in Supply

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or right here 
at Jon Haag & Son, Oak Island,

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or any number of other 
Brunswick Catch members,

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whatever high-grade, down-home 
Carolina seafood spot

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we stop in,

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we'll have gone 
to the right place,

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and we'll have gotten 
real good seafood

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from real good folks,

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and we'll be eatin' better 
than Louis XIV, Queen Mary,

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and J. P. Morgan 
all put together.

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As the vaunted Cajun cook 
Justin Wilson

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would emphatically put it, 
"I garontee."

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♪

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We might just push a few spots 
and pompano around the pan,

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frying them for breakfast, 
two or three per person,

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along with toast 
and fig preserves

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and scrambled eggs.

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We may even scoot a few 
butterflied jumping mullet

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or some rockfish 
onto the grill,

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for these are gorgeous fish 
that absolutely love smoke.

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What'll we have, 
and how will we have it?

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When it comes 
to the fish house delights,

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the fruits of North Carolina's 
legendary coastal

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and sound-country waters,

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no questions are more joyfully 
put or answered.

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And that is the word 
on North Carolina's catch,

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the boats and the bounty,

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from Varnamtown 
in Brunswick County

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and from Lockwood Folly Inlet, 
where the river meets the sea.

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[jazzy chord 
concludes folk tune]