THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF THE WORLD 569 



meats are drained free from water and dumped into a grading machine which 

 separates them into four estabhshed sizes: Small Selects, Selects, Extra Selects, 

 and Counts. The machine grades the meat at the approximate rate of 100 oysters 

 per minute. 



The meats are then placed in Monel metal cans and transferred to a filhng 

 room where they are packed into 12-ounce rectangular, cold-waxed cartons, lined 

 with moisture-proof cellophane sheets. The carton contains from 18 to 20 Select 

 oysters, which is the most popular grade for freezing. The weight is checked, the 

 cartons are closed, then wrapped, and heat-sealed in waxed glassine paper. The 

 packages are placed on trays and put in a freezer for about 1/2 hours. The "Birds- 

 eye" multiplate freezer (for description see Tressler and Evers, 1947, p. 81) is 

 used by the Bluepoint Company plant in Greenport, Long Island, in which large 

 quantities of oysters are frozen. After removal from the freezer the cartons with 

 frozen oysters are packed in corrugated fiberboard shipping containers and stored 

 at about 0° F. 



Freezing is also being used by the packers of the Pacific oyster in the state 

 of Washington. The method is similar to that employed on the Atlantic Coast. 

 The oyster meats are placed in waxed paperboard cups which are put on trays 

 and pushed into a freezing room where the oysters are frozen in a blast of air 

 at - 25° F. 



Canning 



Oyster canning is an old industry in the United States. It started in 1820 in Balti- 

 more, Maryland as a means of overcoming the difficulties in transportation and 

 storage. It provided an excellent method of extending the market and made the 

 name "Cove Oysters," as the canned product at that time was labeled, known 

 throughout the world. In 1948 the pack of canned oysters in the United States 

 was 357,000 standard cases, valued at 4.8 million dollars. As can be seen from 

 Table 121 Louisiana contributed the largest portion of the pack, Mississippi occu- 



Table 121. Pack of Canned Oysters in the United States, 1948. 



Total 357,080 4,777,531 



Note: Standard cases represent the various sized cases converted to the equivalent of 

 48 cans to the case, each can containing 4% ounces drained weight of oyster meats. 

 Source: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Annual Summary ( 1948). 



pying the next place. The formerly prosperous oyster-canning industry of Mary- 

 land ceased to exist primarily because of the decline in the catch of oysters in 

 Chesapeake Bay. 



There are two methods of canning oysters, one used in the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf States and the other on the Pacific Coast. The canneries of the Atlantic and 



