Shrimp don't have eyelids, so when Nolan Wellensiek turns off the lights in his repurposed machinery shed outside Cook, the sudden change prompts them to flip to escape what they perceive to be a predator. He often has to walk around his 15,000-gallon tank, cellphone flashlight in hand, to retrieve the shrimp that jumped out.
Cole Schelkopf of Blue Valley Aquaculture sorts rainbow trout raised on his farm in Sutton. Schelkopf has about 100,000 fish in various stages of growth on his farm. Photo by Laura Beahm for the Flatwater Free Press
Nolan Wellensiek tests the water quality in his large shrimp tank outside Cook. Wellensiek raises Pacific white shrimp and sells them to customers every summer.
Cole Schelkopf of Blue Valley Aquaculture works with rainbow trout on his farm in Sutton. Photo by Laura Beahm for the Flatwater Free Press
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Cole Schelkopf of Blue Valley Aquaculture holds a rainbow trout raised on his farm in Sutton. The building was previously a hog farm but was converted for fish.
Cole Schelkopf of Blue Valley Aquaculture holds a rainbow trout raised on his farm in Sutton. Photo by Laura Beahm for the Flatwater Free Press
Grant Jones holds a large shrimp in one hand and baby shrimp in the other. Jones started Chundy Aquaculture in 2020, raising his Pacific white shrimp in tanks inside a repurposed machine shed near Haigler to sell fresh to area customers.
Nolan Wellensiek runs Big Big Red Shrimp Co. outside Cook. He sells his fresh, Pacific white shrimp whole to customers every summer. The demand for his shrimp has been so high that he can’t always guarantee he’ll have enough to sell to everyone who wants to buy from him.
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