Seafood

BAYOU LA BATRE  --  When you eat a plate of shrimp, the leftover shells are probably the last thing on your mind.  But the truth is - processed seafood leaves behind a lot of waste, as much as 100,000 pounds in one day.

"There's a tremendous tonnage of that product and shrimp heads that are used," said Waldon Kraver with the Gulf Coast Agricultural and Seafood Co-op.

That waste has to go somewhere. 

"In the past, you would bury this product.  You would bury it and it was smelly," said County Commissioner Mike Dean.

Now, members of the seafood industry have formed a co-op.  They plan to build a seafood recycling plant in southern Mobile County. One that would get rid of waste instead of letting it stink up the neighborhood.

Once the seafood is recycled, it turns into a fine powder.  That powder can be used to make fertilizers, even make-up.

"We're gonna make chemicals, we're gonna make chicken feed, we're gonna make all sorts of stuff," said Kraver.

The money from the product will be shared by co-op members...to help make them more competitive in the seafood industry.  Organizers say it will be the first plant of its kind on the Gulf Coast, so the area will be known for its delicious food instead of something less appealing. 

The plant is being funded by state and federal dollars.  The Mobile County Commission gave $30,000 to get the program off the ground.