Many visitors to the Gulf Shores area will ask about Royal Reds and where they got their name. Seldom offered as an annual menu item in local restaurants due to their availability and cost, the "Reds" have become synonymous with the Alabama coastal region.

Local grocer, Rouses, recently explained the difference between Royal Reds and other shrimp:

Royal Reds are a deep-water shrimp dwelling in depths of 1,200- 1,800 feet around 60 miles from the Alabama shoreline. Pink, brown and white shrimp are found in shallower waters, around 200-300 feet deep, throughout Alabama’s coastal waters.

Only a select few boats are outfitted with the necessary equipment for trawling this big, crimson shrimp. The season extends from late summer through late fall, reaching its peak in September. And only a few Gulf Coast fishermen are licensed to harvest it.

Due to the extensive distances that Royal Red shrimpers must cover, the shrimp are immediately flash-frozen when they are brought on board so, like other breeds of Gulf Coast shrimp, Royal Reds can be found all year long. Royal Reds are larger than pink, white and brown shrimp varieties. Sweet and salty, Royal Reds have a texture and flavor almost like lobster — they’ve been compared to lobster, bay scallops and blue crab.

You can substitute them in any recipe that calls for shrimp, but you will need less of them, because they are larger than white and brown shrimp varieties. Because the texture is so soft, Royal Reds also cook almost twice as quickly as white and brown shrimp. And since they are already salty from the deep Alabama water in which they live, you do not need to salt the cooking water.

ROUSES' SUPPLIER - Six generations of Zirlotts have been harvesting seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. “I’ve been shrimping since I was knee-high,” says Jeremy Zirlott. His family has been involved in the fishing industry in various capacities since at least the early 1800s. “My father was a fisherman. My grandfather, my greatgrandfather — it goes way back, and on both sides: my mother’s side and my father’s side.” Zirlott and his wife, Kim, have run their Bayou La Batre-based family business since 1997. (His daughters help with the business, too.) Zirlott Trawlers supplies Royal Lagoon Seafood, a local Alabama seafood vendor, which in turn supplies Rouses Markets. Zirlott’s boats are equipped with on-deck freezers where shrimp can be packed onto stainless steel trays and frozen over the course of three hours, allowing for a longer shelf life.