THE SHRIMP FISHERY 171 



decreasing proportion of the market, resulting from a nearly constant 

 quantity being canned while increased supplies of shrimp have been 

 sold in other forms. Miscellaneous items include dried, spiced, and 

 smoked shrimp, shrimp soups, paste, shrimp in cocktail sauce, and others 

 of minor importance. JNIeal is produced from the heads and other waste 

 from shrimp processing, most of it coming from the dried shrimp and 

 canning industries. The meal is used as a feed supplement for poultry 

 and other animals. 



Canning. Shrimp canning was first done in the United States in 1867 

 by the Dunbar family of Louisiana. In 1960 there were 45 shrimp can- 

 ning plants in this country; this was a reduction of about one-third of 

 the number in the early 1930's. Shrimp were canned in 1959 in eight 

 states, the distribution of canneries being shown in Table 12.7. 



Table 12.7. Number of Shrimp Canneries, and Volume and Value of 

 THE Pack of Shrimp, by States, 1959 and 1960* 



* Source: U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. 



t A standard case represents the various size cases converted to the equivalent of 48 cans to the case, 

 each can containing 5 ounces. 



In 1957 shrimp canning in the Pacific states increased sharply in 

 volume, principally due to the encouragement provided by successful 

 application of mechanical peeling machines. These machines had been 

 developed in the Gulf of Mexico area, and their use on the small shrimp 

 caught in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska waters reduced the cost of 

 processing by eliminating hand labor in the heading and peeling process. 

 In 1960, however, several of the plants on the Pacific Coast ceased 

 operations and others curtailed their production as a consequence of 

 weak market demand. 



In 1959, 922,000 cases of shrimp were canned in the United States. 



