Golden Island International
American based Jelly Ball company
About Golden Island International
Golden Island International was started by Terry Chuang in July 2002, and became the first American company to export jellyfish to Asia.
Great pride is taken in providing the international and domestic market with a niche product.
In the News
Upcoming news
Mike Rowe
We have some exciting news which involves Mike Rowe and his film crew who came to visit our facility in Georgia! More details to come soon!
Georgia Shrimpers Embrace a Pesky Ocean Creature that China Loves
As the only American jellyfish processor currently in operation, Golden Island International has also worked hard to distinguish itself from its South and Central American competitors, who operate in countries and communities with few, if any, regulations.
In addition to a high-tech water treatment system, the company uses a lower ratio of alum than the industry standard, which has been cited around 10 percent, according to April Harper, the company’s plant manager. Alum is essential to giving jellyfish its signature tendon-like crunch, but in excess, it’s harmful to your health. Soaking and rinsing jellyfish before cooking eliminates almost all alum from the product, but Harper said they’ve had to overcome the stigma of jellyfish processed elsewhere.
Georgia Shrimpers Embrace a Pesky Ocean Creature that China Loves
...Georgia jellyballs are a clean fishery with very little by-catch...
Because the nets have wider holes and don’t typically drag the ocean floor, jellyballing uses far less fuel than shrimping. Jellyballs don’t need to be iced down like shrimp, and they naturally roll from the nets into the hull of the ship. "With jellyballs, the crew is on deck 10 minutes for every drag. On a shrimp boat, you’re on back deck for hours, picking the shrimp, heading them, and icing them down. It takes an hour or two every drag..."
Costal Georgia Shrimpers Turn to Jellyfish to Make Money
The jellyfish catch is readied for export at Golden Island International in Darien. The process is like pickling, said owner Terry Chuang…Workers remove the stem from the bulbous body of the jellyfish. Then they salt it and allow it to dry. Along the way, the jelly loses about 80 percent to 90 percent of its weight.
Chuang ships out of the port of Savannah to China and Japan, where jellyfish are used in salads and stir fries. They’re "very healthy, full of collagen...”
Coastal Georgia Shrimpers Turn to Jellyfish to Make Money
Georgia’s third-largest commercial fishery by weight: cannonball jellyfish.
The stingless jellies, scientifically Stomolophus meleagris, are keeping shrimpers who once shunned them financially afloat.
Contact
12234 GA Highway 251, P.O. Box 1939, Darien, GA 31305
Phone Number 912-437-6699
Fax 912-437-3350