8 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



the season in North CaroUna is August to November; in South 

 Carohna July to November; in Georgia and east Florida the year 

 round, with irregular slack periods; in west Florida October to July; 

 in Mississippi March, April, and July to December; in Louisiana 

 February to May and July to November; in Galveston Bay, Tex., 

 March to November; and in Corpus Chris ti Bay, Tex., throughout 

 the year with longer or shorter periods of slackness. The intro- 

 duction of the otter trawl in Mississippi may lengthen the season in 

 that State. 



In 1916, 448,443 cases of canned shrimp, with a value of $1,436,851 

 were produced. The principal canning center is Biloxi, Miss., at 

 which place not less than 13 plants are operated. New Orleans is 

 second in importance. Shrimp were also canned at Houma, La.; 

 Lakeshore, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, and Ocean Springs, Miss.; 

 Apalachicola, Fernandina, and Nassauville, Fla.; Valona and Bruns- 

 wick, Ga. ; and Southport, N. C. 



The canning operations are quite simple. The meat is separated 

 by hand from the heads and shells, thoroughly washed in fresh water, 

 and cooked in wooden tanks for 5 to 10 minutes in boihng water to 

 which sufficient salt for seasoning has been added. The naeat is then 

 spread on wire-meshed trays to cool and is then packed in the cans 

 by hand. The cans are of two sizes, holding about 4 and 8 ounces of 

 meat, respectively. For the dry pack, the cans are fined with parch- 

 ment paper cut to size by the dealer supplying it. The paper pre- 

 vents the discoloration which results when the meat is in direct con- 

 tact with the tin. In the wet pack most operators have abandoned 

 the use of the lining without unfavorable results. For this pack the 

 cans are fified with brine. After capping, the cans are processed in 

 steam-tight retorts at 240° F., the smafier cans for 8 to 10 minutes 

 and the larger cans for 12 to 14 minutes; the dry-pack cans for 60 to 

 70 minutes. 



The drying of shrimp is an important industry in Louisiana, fully 

 half the catch being preserved in this manner. Most of the drying 

 is done along the shores of Barataria and Timbafier Bays. Without 

 removing heads or shells, the shrimp are boiled for about 30 minutes 

 in large kettles of water to which salt has been added in the propor- 

 tion of 10 to 20 quarts, depending on weather conditions, for each 

 900 pounds of shrimps. They are then spread on large wooden dry- 

 ing platforms at a depth not to exceed 2 to 3 inches and dried in the 

 sun, being turned over every 20 or 30 minutes. Under favorable 

 weather conditions, the drying is completed in 1 or 2 days. The 

 shrimp are then pushed into circular piles and the meat threshed out 

 by workmen walking round and round over them. This primitive 

 method of freeing meat from heads and shells is termed ' ' dancing the 

 shrimp." The meat is then separated from the shells by sifting and 

 packed in barrels for shipment. The product is sold for food in Cuba, 

 Central and South America, and in a number of large cities in the 

 United States. The heads and shells which have been more or less 

 pulverized into a meal or bran by the dancing process are sacked and 

 sold for fertifizer. In 1916, this industry yielded 1,368,346 pounds 

 of dried shi-imp, valued at $183,144 and 684 tons of fertifizer valued 

 at $12,067. Statistics of the industry in detail are given in the 

 following table : 



