UTILIZATION OF SHKIMP WASTE 105 



iced tub to another. In certain sections the trade demands the head- 

 less stock. In other markets, especially in the South, consumers are 

 suspicious of headed shrimp as they erroneously re<jfard the absence 

 (/f the head as an indication of spoiled stock. Such consumers ulti- 

 mately pay the express on the entire -vvei<rht of the package and then 

 throw nearly half of the shrimp away. Experiments indicate that 

 tlie heads and appendages constitute from 43 to 45 per cent of the 

 wliole raw shrimp. 



The shrimp are kept in the ice box for two or three days to facili- 

 tate the removal of the appendages in the peeling operation. This 

 removal of the desirable fleshy portion of the tail from the shell, 

 head, and thorax is done on the picking tables in the sheltered portion 

 of the wharves. 



The pickers stand on either side of the table facing each other. 

 Each one is supplied with a round bucket made of galvanized metal, 

 jjerforated both sides and bottom with round holes about one-half 

 inch in diameter, and having a capacity of about 7 pounds of shrimp 

 meat. Each picker is supplied also with a bucket or can of alum 

 water into which the fingers are dipped from time to time to offset the 

 action of the alkaline secretions from the body of the shrimp. With- 

 out the use of the alum water, the pickers' fingers would soon become 

 so sore from the action of these body fluids that they would be com- 

 pelled to abandon their work. The meat buckets and the alum water 

 buckets are placed on the edge of the table outside the trough, A 

 shrimp is taken in the left hand, palm downward, being held by the 

 tail or the body portion, the legs pointing toward the body of the 

 picker and the head pointing toward the right hand of the picker. 

 The head of the shrimp is first seized between the thumb and the two 

 first fingers of the right hand and broken or twisted off. The right 

 thumb is now thrust between the right and left rows of legs, break- 

 ing open the shell by running the thumb under the shell and around 

 the body, peeling off a section of shell an inch to an inch and one-half 

 in length. By squeezing the tail end of the shrimp between the 

 fingers and thumb of the left hand the meat is forced from the shell 

 and allowed to drop into the meat bucket. 



The heads and shells are dropped upon the edge of the table ; and 

 when a small pile accumulates they are pushed from the table into 

 wooden boxes placed on the floor at the pickers' feet, or upon the floor 

 to be raked up later and disposed of by an attendant who carries the 

 boxes to the end of the wharf where they are gone over for any wholp 

 shrimp that the pickers carelessly throw away; the waste is then 

 dumped overboard. If the picking room is above the water the waste 

 is dumped directly into the tide water. The whole shrimp which are 

 recovered are returned to the picking room. When the shrimp are 

 running small in size, there is a considerable quantity of whole 

 shrimp thrown out by the pickers. The manager ignores this when 

 the size of the shrimp is small. When the shrimp are large the care- 

 less one is found and cautioned for the carelessness. 



The pickers consist principally of women, boys, and girls, both 

 white and black, the two races always working at separate tables. 

 Sometimes colored men will be seen working at the picking tables, 

 but seldom, if ever, white men. The picking operations, when a 

 large supply o^ shrimp is on hand, usually begin about 4 a. m. 



