Rock shrimp fishing pioneer Rodney Thompson passes away

The family of Rodney Thompson, who founded of Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant and Wild Ocean Seafood Market, will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at First United Methodist Church in Titusville.

Thompson died at home Friday at age 86 after a long battle with normal pressure hydrocephalous, a buildup of fluid in the brain.

"He was an icon of the seafood industry and a pioneer of the rock shrimp industry. He was an outspoken advocate for the protection of the Oculina Reef and for true conservation," said Bob Jones, executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association.

"He was an innovator in the same mold of other leaders who brought the commercial fishing industry into the mainstream of society," Jones said.

Thompson and his father, Herbert, built a bait house and operated the Titusville Pier after the old wooden Walker Bridge was replaced by a concrete span in 1949.

During his long career, he founded T-Craft Boats, Thompson Trawlers, Offshore 30, Thompson Industries, Sand Point Inn, Pelican Point Inn, Ponce Seafood, Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant, Cape Canaveral Shrimp Company and Wild Ocean Seafood Market.

Rock shrimp fishing was his claim to fame, with his family following in his footsteps.

"Prior to our family getting involved with rock shrimp, they were considered a trash item. Because their shell was so hard, no one was interested in buying them. The conventional mechanical peelers that were used to peel white shrimp, brown shrimp, they would not work on the shell of the rock shrimp," said Laurilee Thompson, Rodney's daughter. She now co-owns Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant.

"Dad would go out fishing for brown shrimp, but he would always bring home a garbage can full of rock shrimp and he would set it in the middle of the kitchen. We would have to stop playing, and we would have to sit around the kitchen table and dream of ways to cook rock shrimp," Laurilee Thompson said.

Rodney Thompson was a longtime Southeastern Fisheries Association board member. He served on committees for the South Atlantic Fisheries Council, Florida Seafood Advisory Board and Florida Seafood Marketing Board.

His funeral will take place at 2 p.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church, with interment at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter