A new head-on shrimp grader designed by Kerian Machines has potential to differentiate Gulf shrimp from imports. It will allow fishermen to take a nice head-on shrimp and put it into the marketplace at a premium price. Photo: Ed Lallo/Lallo Photography
by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editor
“My father always told me people don’t come to us just to buy another piece of equipment, they come to us with problems they want solved,” said James Kerian, owner of North Dakota based Kerian Machines. Photo: Kerian Machines
Sitting on the frozen plains of North Dakota 50-miles from the Canadian boarder, a family-owned business has been enlisted by Gulf fishermen to develop a new method to grade by size head-on shrimp while still on the boat. The new shrimp grader will allow fishermen to better compete with imports, putting the quality consumers demand ahead of price.
Fifty years ago Kerian Machines, located in the tiny town of Grafton, designed its first potato grader. Since then the international company has developed new methods of sorting a variety of products.
Kerian Machines has been enlisted by Gulf fishermen to develop a new method to grade by size head-on shrimp while still on the boat. An employeee makes a final check before the first test run of head-on shrimp. Photo: LSU Sea Grant/Thomas Hymel
“My father always told me people don’t come to us just to buy another piece of equipment, they come to us with problems they want solved,” said James Kerian, whose grandfather started the company while working as a manager at a potato warehouse. “Our job is to understand the problem so we can apply our knowledge and expertise in engineering to provide an affordable, efficient and effective solution.”
One of those solutions was a grader for the crawfish industry more than three-decades ago. Kerian, who was eight at the time, remembers stories of how they were approached when a crawfish processor in Louisiana saw a grader made for sweet potatoes. “For awhile now we have been interested in expanding into other shellfish,” he said. “When approached about the opportunity to build a machine to size head-on shrimp right on the boat, we jumped at the opportunity.”
According to Dexter Guillory, owner of Riceland Crawfish of Eunice, the Louisiana crawfish industry has had a long history of using the company’s graders to size crawfish.
“The machines work well for the us because they are both reliable and gentle on the product,” he said. “They allow us to market a higher graded and washed product at a better margin, providing quality crawfish products to restaurants, supermarkets and other customers. It has been good for the whole industry.”
Head-On Shrimp Grader
Montegut shrimper Lance Nacio has experimented with a Canadian built head-on grader. Photo: Ed Lallo/Lallo Photography
Montegut shrimper Lance Nacio, owner of Anna Maria Shrimp, experimented on his boats with a Canadian built head-on grader for a number of years. He heard of Kerian Machines from a friend in the crawfish business. He approached Thomas Hymel of Louisiana Sea Grant with the idea, who then in turn contacted the company.
Kerian says the timing for the head-on shrimp grader could not have been better. His company had just completed developing its first entirely stainless steel grader for the fruit and vegetable industry. According to the third-generation owner, the high quality stainless sizer is designed to work in rough seas, while at the same time withstanding the salt air of the Gulf of Mexico.
“We packed more than 30 lbs. of shrimp and took it to North Dakota to see if their machine would handle the size-grading without harming the quality of the shrimp,” explained Nacio. “The shrimp were a variety of sizes, from 16-20 count to 51-60’s. We ran the mixed-sized shrimp through the machine six or seven times, each time it worked perfectly and no damage to the shrimp.”
Kerian Machines owner James Kerian (l) explains how simple sorter is to Gulf shrimper Lance Nacio. Photo: LSU Sea Grant/Thoma Hymel
“Our test runs went wonderfully on all sorts of levels,” chimed in Kerian. “It was great to have shrimp to run over the machine and test the concept and verify the Kerian Machines Sizer will line up the shrimp correctly, as well as sort them accurately and consistently. It was invaluable having Lance and Thomas here to help address potential issues and discuss adjustments needed to work properly on a shrimp boat.”
“I played with graders on my boats for a number of years,” said Nacio. “The problem was they were not reliable. I was always tinkering with them to make them work better, or they were breaking down because they had so many moving parts. This new system is so simple, that I am hopeful that it will be able to pay for itself within the first year.”
After the demo, Hymel and Nacio cooked the Gulf shrimp for the North Dakota native. “We had a simply fantastic meal,” he said. “We are not used to eating that well up here, especially real Cajun seafood. Louisiana seafood is renown the world over, and I can see why.”
The company’s groundbreaking design is both rugged and simple, with fewer parts than the competition. It will allow for shrimp to be sorted into four sizes: small, medium, large and jumbo.
Fisheries Forward Summit
Thomas Hymel (l-r), James Kerian and Lance Nacio at Kerian Machines headquarters in North Dakota. Photo: LSU Sea Grant
A model of the new shrimp size-grader will be on display at the 2020 Fisheries Forward Summit being held at Kenner’s Pontchartrain Center on March 11th. Kerian will travel from his Great Plains hometown to answer all questions about the shrimp-sizer.
“This equipment has great potential. It is our opportunity to differentiate Gulf shrimp from imports. To be able to take a nice head-on shrimp and put it into the marketplace at a premium price,” said Thomas Hymel, Louisiana Fisheries Forward program director and marine Extension agent with Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter. “We worked closely with the manufacturer to get the size grading system correct. Every shrimper in the state, maybe even along the whole Gulf Coast, will want to see how this new technology runs. I am looking forward to placing it on the first boat and shrimp dock to get it out there working for our shrimpers.”
Angela Portier, owner-operator of Faith Family Shrimp Company, is anxious to get a peek at the new grader. The Portier family (l-r) Chad Jr., Jenson, Chad Sr., Angela and Amanda. Photo: Faith Family Shrimp Company
Angela Portier, owner-operator of Faith Family Shrimp Company in Chauvin, LA, is anxious to get a peek at the new grader. “We fish five boats, as well as operate a commercial dock. Not only am I interested in putting the grader on our bigger boats, but also on the dock.”
Portier’s company sells bagged shrimp to processors along the Gulf coast. Shrimp boat crews pick big shrimp by eye, and then weigh them on a hanging scale. “With rough seas it is often hard to obtain consistent accuracy with a hanging scale.The grader would simply indeed simplify a time-costly operation both on the boat and at the dock, as well as being more accurate,” she said. “I look forward to seeing it at the Fisheries Forward Summit.”
The on-board ship grader model will start with a price tag of approximately $50,000 says the owner of the company. “The grader is easily optimized,” he explained. “We can expand length, width and capacity, as well as add sizes, for those that might be interested in putting it on a dock.”
Revolutionize Shrimping
According to Don Schwab, owner of Creative Supply and Solutions, “If you can sack or box head-on shrimp to a uniform size it is going to add more value to the product.” Photo: Ed Lallo/Lallo Photography
According to Don Schwab, owner of Creative Supply and Solutions, a shrimp consulting business based in Metairie, “When the shrimp hit the deck the uniformity ratio is all over the board, everything from 16-20 on up. If you can sack or box head-on shrimp to a uniform size it is going to add more value to the product.”
Schwab is confident consistent uniform grading of head-on shrimp will be a beneficial tool to help combat low shrimp prices caused by imports. In addition it will add consistency to an industry that already grades both head-off and peeled shrimp.
“It comes down to whether this will be cost-effective,” he told Gulf Seafood News. “If the payback for the system is going to be immediate then it is going to be worthwhile, if the payback system is three to five years I don’t think it is going to work.”
Team members at Kerian Machines enjoy some Cajun cooking courtesy of shrimper Lance Nacio and LSU Sea Grant’s Thomas Hymel. Photo: LSU Sea Grant/Thomas Hymel
“If four people sitting at a restaurant all ordered the same shrimp dish and one guy’s shrimp is bigger than another, one has mixed sizes on his plate, and the final customers look real nice because the shrimp are all the same size; you know someone at the table is not going to be happy,” the American Shrimp Processors Association member gave as example.” “It is all about consistence and uniformity. Consumers buy with their eyes. From the retail and restaurant level, if shrimp are all the same size they are more appealing.”
Thomas says on-board head-on shrimp grading would be a huge breakthrough for the shrimping industry. “For too long our industry has tried to compete with imports on price. If we are to have a successful, thriving industry we must start competing on quality. This first of kind equipment is a key piece in solving a complicated economic puzzle caused by low-priced imports, not only for Gulf shrimpers, but also those on both coasts.”
“The industry right now needs anything they can get to squeeze an extra penny out of the shrimp. It is all about the boat,” said Schwab. “If the Kerian Machines head-on shrimp grader can tighten up the uniformity of the product it will add value for the fishermen. The boats are so underpaid for the product they need anything they can get to give them more value.”
I’d like to know more about the shrimp grader. I’d like to interview and do a documentary on the unit.
Shane, thank you for your interest. Please contact us at 701-352-0480 or sales@kerian.com
We’ll be happy to help.