Sherlock Shrimp in Ridgeway hosts a monthly meeting of Midwest shrimp farmers and wannabe shrimpers to share information and ideas. Six states could be represented at this month's meeting on Saturday — Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Missouri.
"Demand for shrimp is overwhelming," says Forbes Adam who owns Dairyland Shrimp in Westby, Wisconsin. "It's the number one consumed seafood in the U.S. so, from a selling point of view, we cannot raise enough shrimp to keep up with demand. We have a list of over 400 customers waiting to try our shrimp and we simply haven't been able to keep up with the orders."
The Wisconsin shrimper and Sherill Ryan, owner of Sherlock Shrimp, often share ideas and help one another. Through "Shrimp Academy" they are reaching out to others wanting to learn about the unique indoor farming. It benefits the fledgling shrimp industry in middle America to pool their resources, they agree.
Ryan's aim is to create a shrimp growers' cooperative. "There's no cohesive group, but I'm working on it," she says.