UTILIZATION OF SHRIMP WASTE 111 



maximum of 9 per cent nitrogen, and a minimum of 2 per cent 

 j)hosphorus calculated as phosphorus pentoxide. 



In order to produce meals, the handler of small quantities of 

 shrimp would have to invest in additional cooking equipment, a 

 small drier, a feed grinder, and a small building to house the equip- 

 ment. The size of the equipment would depend upon the maximum 

 quantity of shrimp waste available in one day. By pooling inter- 

 ests, a number of small handlers could go together and erect a 

 reduction plant and operate on a cooperative basis, assuring a larger 

 supply of raw material and cutting down overhead for the utiliza- 

 tion of the waste for the production of stock feed. 



The additional equipment necessary to reduce the peeled shrimp 

 waste to meal in the large shrimp canneries would not be as exten- 

 sive as that necessary with the small handlers. The peeled shrimp 

 wastes should be treated in different vats from those used in the 

 canning of shrimp meat, but the utilization of waste heat and 

 auxiliary equipment in such plants would make the handling less 

 expensive. The large canners could vary the size of the equipment, 

 dependent upon the amount of the shrimp handled. 



PRESENT INVESTIGATION 



The United States Bureau of Fisheries established a field labora- 

 tory at Brunswick, Ga., during the summer months of 1928, to inves- 

 tigate the shrimp-waste utilization problem. Studies on the chemi- 

 cal composition of raw shrimp wastes and treated shrimp Avastes to- 

 gether with field studies of various methods of treating wastes for 

 the production of fertilizer, and poultry and stock feeds were under- 

 taken by the writers. 



Analytical determinations were made according to the standard 

 practice. The iodine evaluation was made according to the method 

 of von Fellenberg as modified by Tressler and Wells. ° 



The commercial utilization of shrimp waste that has been produced 

 up to this time has been confined to a component of fertilizer or to 

 direct application to the ground, except for considerable quantities 

 which have been sold for fish food. 



The analysis of shrimp meal and two minor feeding tests con- 

 ducted by the United States Department of Agriculture several years 

 ago indicate that it might well be considered as a component of 

 feedstuff as well as for fertilizer. 



An essential feature to be remembered in the use of shrimp meal 

 as a protein concentrate for poultry feed, as differing from stock feed, 

 is that the content of added salt (NaCl) must be kept at a minimum. 

 An increased percentage of salt is allowable in a swine feed and 

 still more for dairy feed. All feeding material should be produced 

 under sanitary conditions ; fertilizer may include material the quality 

 of which renders it unfit for feeding to animals. 



Experimental shrimp meals produced according to the processes 

 c»r methods of production described in the following are excellent 

 materials for fertilizer stock. As far as their diversion into the field 

 of animal nutrition is concerned, it should be carefully noted that 



= Iodine Content of Sea Poods (with bibliography) by Donald K. Tressler and Arthur W. 

 Wells. Fisheries Document No. 967. Appendix I to Report of Commissioner of Fisheries 

 for i;>24. 



