FIGURE V - 68. — ^A small shrimp drying platfomi on 

 Bayou Grand Caillou below Houraa, Louisiana. 



5. Tumbling: After drying, the shrimp are raked to the edge 

 of the platform adjacent to the peeling building. Thro\igh an opening in 

 the building wall the dried shrimp sire shoveled into the receiver of an 

 open mesh cylindrical tumbler. When sufficient shrimp are in the tianbler, 

 it is rotated by means of a drive motor which effects a tiombling of con- 

 tents while allowing the heads and shells to drop through the mesh into a 

 receiving receptacle and retaining the peeled shrimp meats within the cyl- 

 inder. 



6. Weighing and packing: The peeled shrimp meats are removed 

 from the tumbler, weighed up in 100-pound bags, and stacked to await 

 pickup by the wholesale buyer. The heads and hulls (shrimp meal or bran) 

 are also sacked in hundred pound bags and purchased by the same buyer. 



Summary: According to First Research Corporation the pro- 

 cessing operations of the shrimp drying plant surveyed were adequately 

 handled by a work force of two men. The processing methods involved do 

 not lend themselves to mechanization. 



Since most processing takes place in the open, the need for 

 plant buildings is reduced to a minimum. The firm surveyed uses only 

 two small buildings. One for housing miscellsmeous work tools and 

 materials, and the other for housing the tumbler equipment guad sceiles. 

 This building, in addition, contains the required storage space. All 

 operations except peeling, weighing, sacking, and storing take place 

 in the open. 



At the plant surveyed, removing of heads and shells from the 

 shrimp was the only mechanized operation. The cylinder of the tvmibler 

 had a capacity of about 1,500 pounds of whole dried shrimp, but operated 

 more efficiently if loaded to one-half or less of capacity. 



One hundred potinds of whole fresh shrimp will yield about kO 

 pounds of whole dried shrimp which in turn will yield 13 to lU pounds of 

 dried shrimp meats and 26 to 27 pounds of heads and hulls (shrimp meal 

 or bran). 



Cost of operations . --Cost data for two producers of dried 

 shrimp were obtained by the Federal Trade Commission. One operation 

 was a family business conducted by the owner and his unsalaried 

 relatives. The dried shrimp operation of the other company was part 

 Df diversified activities performed by hired labor. 



299 



