Biloxi Shrimp, Inc. was established in the late 1970’s by Henry “Duke” Gutierrez. Located on Biloxi Beach at the foot of Oak Street, the factory was operated by Gutierrez’s daughter Sybil and Carroll Kovacevich. Initially, the shrimp would be headed manually by the newly arrived population of Vietnamese
immigrants, but by 1980, the factory installed automatic shrimp peeling machines and would then carry only peeled shrimp. This organization was one of the first factories to begin running its wastewater from the automatic peeling machines through a screen ensuring that shells would not be dumped in the Sound.
Biloxi Shrimp Inc. continued operating throughout the remainder of the 1980’s marketing its shrimp under the flagship brand “Biloxi Shrimp”, and the label “Emerald Seas”. As the industry shifted to IQF (individually quick frozen) shrimp, Duke retired from day-to-day involvement in the business and closed Biloxi Shrimp, Inc.
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