Henry “Duke” Gutierrez

Born in 1928, Henry Gutierrez was the second of four sons born to Lee Paul Gutierrez, Sr. and Katherine Slay Gutierrez. He would live his entire life in his birthplace of Biloxi but would tour the Mediterranean Sea while serving in the Marine Corps during the Korean War.

Following his service in the Marines, Henry, known to friends and family as “Duke”, worked in the family business, Biloxi Freezing Company. While working at the freezing company, Duke began buying and selling small amounts of shrimp thus paving the way for future endeavors.

In 1970, he left Biloxi Freezing and partnered with Joe Suarez establishing M&M Shrimp Co. in 1972. The company, named for Joe and Duke’s respective wives, Mary and Melba, processed, packed and froze shrimp. With Duke serving as President of M&M, the company distributed shrimp nationally, including the product label “Mr. Duke” and met with great success.

Later partnering with Japanese dealers, Duke formed “Biloxi Shrimp Exchange, an international shrimp brokerage, in 1975. With their minds on enterprising, Duke and Joe established a third business venture with Tom Shepherd. This was called the Carolina Shrimp Exchange based out of North Carolina.

Around 1978, Duke established Biloxi Shrimp, Inc. on the Biloxi Beach at the foot of Oak Street. This factory would be operated by his daughter Sybil and his son-in-law. 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.

In the early 1980’s, Duke Gutierrez sold his interest in M&M Shrimp and Carolina Shrimp Exchange, but Biloxi Shrimp Inc. continued operating at the factory on Biloxi’s beach throughout the remainder of the 1980’s. While its flagship brand was “Biloxi Shrimp”, but it also sold under the label “Emerald Seas”. As the industry shifted to IQF (individually quick frozen) shrimp, Duke closed Biloxi Shrimp, Inc. and retired from day-to-day involvement in the business. He did continue to finance and invest in the local seafood industry ventures of his family.