AN OLD WOMAN gave him the nickname “Dolphin when he was a boy.

Little did she know at the time he would take it with him well into adulthood.

To this day, Tyrone “Dolphin” Shorey still doesn’t know why the elderly woman christened him with the name, but he has certainly lived up to it.

He was the six-time champion of the Dolphin Skinning Competition at theOistins Fish Festival. The competition started in 1999. He was dethroned in 2006 by Fabian Doughty.

Though many have tried, they’ve failed to beat the swift-handed Shorey who boasts, unapologetically, of his superior skill.

He’s been boning fish even before the new market opened in May 1983. It’s a craft he acquired by going down to the old market and observing the seasoned fish boners, as a boy.

He usually accompanied his father, a fisherman, to the market and developed a love for the smell and atmosphere.

“I came around, ran on the beach and saw how the people did the fish; so it was natural for me to get into this business,” said the 33-year-old Shorey.

As for his speed, he developed it out of necessity.

“The reason why I got so fast is from when I didn’t have a licence [to bone fish]. A group of us had to work out by the rocks and had to get out the sun, so we would race one another. The faster we worked, the faster we’d get out of the sun. That’s how I get so fast,” he said, adding that he’s been licensed for 13 years now.

Shorey can usually be found in the No. 2 stall at the fish market. He’s one of about nine men who share the small space in the stall.

And it isn’t difficult to pick him out from among the pack of men busily carving, slicing and gutting. Just look for the one wearing the white apron with the letters D O L (short for Dolphin) on the front.

They don’t mind not having women in the booth – it proves less distracting.

“All of us get along well. We might have a little quarrel but that don’t mean nothing. Right now we don’t have anymore space but we might find space for the ladies.

“Women mostly work with the flying fish. Guys deal with the turpits, dolphins, anything so,” he said.

Boning fish is the only job he’s had and he loves it. Next to skinning dolphins, Shorey also relishes boning flying fish.

The most he has ever boned at any one time was 750 fish which took him almost an entire day – from 7 a.m. to about 6:30 p.m. – to finish.

The highlight of his year is the Oistins Fish Festival when he gets to show off his talents. Even some of those he has taught tried to take him down in the competition but Shorey, who is now touted as the “Dolphin King” throughout the market, showed them who was boss. “I don’t be under pressure. I’m that fast. I have the rest under pressure. From the first time I entered, I was winning. “I enjoy it. I participate for the people; it is excitement. While we’re up there competing we’re also laughing and cracking jokes,” he said. And he believes he has an advantage on the other contestants. “I go to the gym on mornings, come in here at 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and go back to the gym. That is what I have on a lot of them, fitness.” He also tries to improve on his speed in the weeks leading up to the festival so he can have the edge.